tihvary  of  Che  theological  ^tminaxy 

PRINCETON    .   NEW  JERSEY 


PRESENTED  BY 

Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe^  D.D. 
BX  9211  .W3  C46  1903 

The  Centennial  of  the  New 
York  Avenue  Presbyterian 


Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  L.L.  D. 


THE  CENTENNIAL 


OF  THE 


NEW  YORK  AVENUE  PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C. 


1803— 1903 


THE   CENTENNIAL   BOARDS. 


THE  CENTENNIAL  SESSION. 

Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe.  James  W.  Dawson. 

Charles  B.  Bailey.  C.  H.  Fishbaugh. 

Charles  A.  Baker.  W.  B.  Gurley. 

Joseph  C.   Breckinridge.  J.  M.  Harlan. 

Harrison  L.  Bruce.  T.  H.  Herndon. 

Sardis  L.  Crissey.  W.  B.  Hughes. 

THE  CENTENNIAL  DIACONATE. 

Charles  S.  Bradley.  J.  D.  M'Chesney. 

F.  O.  Becket.  B.  C.  Somerville. 

R.  P.  A.  Denham.  Charles  Stott. 

James  A.  Freer.  Henry  Wells. 

Philip  F.  Lamer.  J.  H.  Wurdeman. 

THE  CENTENNIAL  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 

Walter  Clephane.  Brice  J.  Moses. 

Samuel  W.  Curriden.  Charles  B.  Pearson. 

Edward  Graves.  Charles  W.  Richardson. 

John  B.  Larner.  W.  P.  Van  Wickle. 

J.  Ormond  Wilson. 


CONTENTS. 


Page 

Foreword         .........  9 

Centennial  Committees  .......  1 1 

Centennial  Sermon   by  Dr.  Radcliffe.         ...  16 

Address  of  Mr.  Walter  Clephane       ....  38 

Address  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bartlett 47 

Address  of  Gen.  H.  V.  Boynton    .....  57 

Introductory  Remarks  of  Justice  Harlan  ...  65 

Address  by  Dr.  M'Master 68 

Address  by  President  Roosevelt          ....  92 

Address  by  Secretary   Hay 97 

Introductory  Address  by  Secretary  Wilson       .         .  lor 

Address  by  President  Patton       .         .         .         .         .  103 

The  Greetings         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .  124 

The  Church  Reception  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  154 

The  Centennial  Historical   Exhibit     .         .         .         .  155 

The  Succession  in  the  Pastorate         .         .         .         .  164 

The  Succession  in  the  Bench  of  Elders       .         .         .  165 

The  Succession  in  the  Diaconate         .         .         .         .  167 

The  Succession  in  the  Boards  of  Trustees        .         .  168 

The  Succession  in  the  Sunday  School  Superintendents  171 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  (1862-1895) 

New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  (1903) 

Willard  Hall 

James  Laurie,  D.  D. 

Rev.  Ninian  Banantyne  . 

Daniel  Baker,  D.  D. 

Rev.  John  N.  Campbell 

Rev.  Stephen  B.  Balche 

D.  X.  Junkin,  D.  D.      . 

Phineas  D.  Gurley,  D.  D. 

S.  S.  Mitchell,  D.  D.     . 

John  R.  Paxton,  D.  D. 

W.  A.  Bartlett,  D.  D.   . 

The  Centennial  Bench  of  Elders 

The  Centennial  Diaconate 

The  Centennial  Board  of  Trustees 


.  Frontispiece. 
0pp.  page  8 
24 
32 
56 
64 
72 
88 
90 
104 
120 
128 
136 
144 
152 

163 

167 


FORE  WORD. 


The  exact  date  for  the  Centennial  celebration  of  New 
York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church  would  be  May  13, 
1903.    The  Session,  in  deciding  upon  such  celebration, 
thought  it  wise  to  defer  it  until  some  convenient  date  in 
the    autumn,  to   be   determined    by    the    committee    of 
arrangements.     This  committee  was  appointed  to  consist 
of  the  elders,  deacons,  and  trustees,  with  power  to  add 
to    their  number.     They  decided  that   the    celebration 
should  begin    on    Sabbath,    November    fifteenth,    and 
continue    on    the    evenings    of    the    three    succeeding 
days.       Because  of    the     age    of  the  church,  and    its 
historical  and  ecclesiastical  importance,  and  the  unusual 
programme   announced,  the  occasion  wakened  a  wide- 
spread interest,  not  only  in  this  community  but  through- 
out the   country,  and  received  unusual  notice  from  the 
Associated  Press  and  from  the  daily  and  weekly  papers. 
The  church  was  in  part  quickened  in  preparation  for 
the  occasion  by  a  series  of  Sunday  evening   historical 
studies      upon     Augustine,     Luther,     Calvin,     Knox, 
Edwards,  and  Witherspoon. 

The  church  was  appropriately  decorated.  The  chan- 
cel was  beautiful  with  palms  and  ferns  and  flowers. 
In  the  north  and  south  arches  blazed  in  electric  lights 
"  1803 — 1903."  The  large  middle  arch  was  festooned 
with  the  American  flag.  On  the  south  space,  between 
the  chancel  and  the  gallery,  was  the  "Banner  of  the 
Covenant,"  made  of  blue  silk,  bearing  a  St.  Andrew's 
cross    and    the    words   in    the    four    spaces,    "  Christ," 


10  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

"King,"  "Kingdom,"  "Covenant";  on  the  north 
space  a  blue  banner  bearing  in  gilt  the  seal  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America, 
with  the  words,  "  Christus  Levatus  Salvator."  The 
pillars  and  front  of  the  gallery,  and  the  organ  were 
also  gracefully  festooned.  The  lecture  room  was  beau- 
tiful with  plants  and  flowers  and  draperies  ;  the  walls 
were  hung  with  portraits  of  the  former  pastors,  and  in 
the  main  room  was  the  historical  exhibit,  which  proved 
to  be  a  conspicuous  and  instructive  part  of  the  celebra- 
tion. 

All  the  services  were  crowded.  The  crowning  event, 
which  was  conceded  publicly  to  be  one  of  the  most 
significant  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  District,  was 
on  Monda}^  evening.  Few  gatherings,  not  a  part  of 
government  routine  and  having  official  significance, 
have  included  so  many  distinguished  people  or  have 
been  so  representative.  The  President  of  the  United 
States  and  the  secretary  of  state  sat  in  the  celebrated 
Lincoln  pew,  and  each  made  an  address.  A  justice  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States  presided.  The 
main  body  of  the  church  was  filled  with  members  of 
the  cabinet,  justices  of  the  supreme  court,  senators, 
representatives,  justices  of  the  supreme  court  of  the 
District,  the  District  commissioners,  officers  of  the  army 
and  navy,  and  others  prominent  in  the  government, 
business  and  ecclesiastical  life  of  Washington. 

Much  credit  for  the  interest  and  success  of  the  cen- 
tennial is  due  to  the  culture  and  ready  service  of  the 
choir  of  the  church,  consisting  of  Mrs.  W.  H.  Shir- 
cliff',  Miss  Pauline  Whitaker,  Mr.  John  H.  Nolan,  and 
Mr.  M.  H.  Stevens,  with  Mr.  J.  Porter  Lawrence  as 
organist  and  precentor. 

The  committee  of  arrangements  was  constituted  as 
follows  : 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 


11 


Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  C/iazrman. 
Walter  Clephane,  Esq.,  Secretary. 
Mr.  Brice  J.  Moses,    Treasurer. 


Reception. 


Gen.  Joseph  C.  Breckenridge,   Chairman. 


Hon.  R.  A.  Alger, 
Dr.  W.  C.  Borden, 
Hon.  J.  C.  Burrows, 
Rev.  John  Chester,  D.  D., 
Dr.  J.  B.  G.  Curtis, 
Hon.  John  B.  Cotton, 
Dr.  Sardis  L.  Crissey, 
Mr.  J.  H.  Cranford, 
Hon.  S.  B.  Elkins, 
Hon.  William  P.  Frye, 
Rev.  John  L.  French, 
Col.  R.  I.  Fleming, 


Hon.  A.  P.  Gorman, 
Mr.  W.  B.  Gurley, 
Hon.  John  M.  Harlan, 
Hon.  William  T.  Harris, 
Hon.  H.  S.  Irwin, 
Hon.  H.  D.  Mirick, 
Dr.  Z.  T.  Sowers, 
Hon.  James  Wilson, 
Mr.  W.  C.  Whittemore, 
Hon.  Lawrence  Weldon, 
Hon.  J.  Ormond  Wilson, 
Hon.  J.  W.  Yerkes. 


Finance. 


John  B.  Larner,  Chairfuaji.      Albert  Halstead,  Vice-Chair  man. 


Charles  S.  Bradley, 
Charles  A.  Baker, 
Walter  C.  Clephane, 
S.  W.  Curriden, 
Charles  H.  Davidge, 
James  A.  Freer, 
Edward  Graves, 


Brice  J.  Moses, 
Charles  B.  Pearson, 
Charles  W.  Richardson, 
Charles  G.  Stott, 
George  W.  White, 
Joseph  E.  Willard. 


Social  Functions. 


John  D.  McChesney,  Chairmati.      Henry  Wells,  Vice-Chairman 


Dr.  J.  Wesley  Bovee, 
Dr.  J.  Wythe  Cook, 
Percy  Cranford, 
Egbert  A.  Clark, 
George  B.  Gardner, 
Alexander  Grant, 
Charles  L.  Gurley, 


Shields  Gurley, 
J.  Porter  Lawrence, 
Lee  D.  Latimer, 
Frank  Libbey, 
Philip  F.  Larner, 
W.  K.  Mendenhall, 
James  H.  McKenny, 


12 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 


Albert  McChesney, 
William  P.  Metcalf, 
John  H.  Nolan, 
M.  V.  Richards, 
A.  H.  Snow, 


Charles  G.  Stott, 
Dr.  John  W.  Shaw, 
J.  H.  Spalding, 
W.  R.  Speare, 
George  W.  Trowbridge. 


Historical  Research. 

Mrs.  James  O.  Adams,    Chairman. 

Walter  C.  Clephane,  Mrs.  A.  G.  Draper, 

A.  J.  Chipman,  Miss  Edwards, 

Joseph  A.  Deeble,  Miss  E.  M.  Mills, 

R.  P.  A.  Denham,  Mrs.  George  J.  Musser, 

J.  H.  Doty,  Miss  M.  E.  Pancoast, 

Hon.  John  Randolph,  Mrs.  J.  T.  Young. 

Decorations. 

J.  Henry  Wurdeman,  Chairman. 

Mrs.  Charles  B.  Bailey,  Mrs.  C.  B.  Pearson, 

Mrs.  J.  H.  Cranford, 
Mrs.  Edward  Graves, 


Mrs.  C.  W.  Richardson, 
Mrs.  G.  W.  Trowbridge. 


The  Press. 

Gen.  Henry  V.  Boynton,  Chairman. 

Hugh  B.  Nesbitt,  Vice-Chairman 


D.  N.  Burbank, 

Rev.  Thos.  Gordon,  D.  D., 

Mr.  H.  G.  Johnson, 

C.  A.  Joerissen, 

Wilson  N.  Paxton, 


Robert  A.  Phillips, 
Dr.  J.  J.  Piirman, 
Theodore  F.  Shuey, 
Dr.  D.  E.  Wiber, 
A.  G.  Wilkinson. 


Invitations. 
William  P.  Van  Wickle,   Chairman. 


Charles  B.  Bailey, 
W.  Frank  Clark, 
Charles  B.  Estabrook, 
Charles  H.  Fishbaugh, 
Prof.  W.  S.  Harshman, 


Endicott  King, 
C.  H.  Lincoln, 
Capt.  E.  H.  Parsons, 
James  H.  Saville. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 


Printing. 
Samuel  W.  Curriden,  Chairman. 


J.  Edward  Bates, 
James  W.  Dawson, 
Dr.  W.  D.  Hughes, 
C.  M.  Irelan, 


John  Mitchell, 
C.  H.  Schaaf, 
Charles  P.  Stone, 
Edward  Tarring. 


Ushers. 


Charles  S.  Bradley,  Chairman. 


Frank  O.  Beckett, 
Walter  C.  Clephane, 
R.  P.  A.  Denham, 
James  A.  Freer, 
Philip  D.  Lamer, 
W.  P.  Metcalf, 
Lee  D.  Latimer, 
Brice  J.  Moses, 


J.  D.  McChesney, 

A.  G.  McChesney, 
Isaac  Pearson, 
Charles  G.  Stott, 

B.  C.   Somerville, 
Henry  Wells, 

J.  H.  Wurdeman. 


THE   CENTENNIAL  SABBATH. 


At  Eleven  o'clock  in  the  Morning. 
The  great  congregation  rose  and  sung  : 

Praise  God,  from  whom  all  blessings  flow ; 
Praise  Him,  all  creatures  here  below  ; 
Praise  Him  above,  ye  heavenly  host ; 
Praise  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost. 

The  invocation  was  made  by  the  pastor  and  was 
closed  with  the  Lord's  prayer  in  which  the  congrega- 
tion joined  audibly.  The  choir  rendered  Hawley's 
arrangement  of  "  The  Te  Deum."  The  forty-sixth  psalm 
was  read  by  the  pastor.  Hymn  No.  103  was  sung  to 
the  tune  of  Park  Street. 

Before  Jehovah's  awful  throne, 

Ye  nations,  bow  with  sacred  joy ; 
Know  that  the  Lord  is  God  indeed  ; 

He  can  create,  and  He  destroy. 

We  are  His  people,  we  His  care. 

Our  souls,  and  all  our  mortal  frame ; 
What  lasting  honors  shall  we  rear. 

Almighty  Maker,  to  Thy  name? 

We'll  crowd  Thy  gates  with  thankful  songs, 
High  as  the  heavens  our  voices  raise  ; 

And  earth,  with  her  ten  thousand  tongues. 
Shall  fill  Thy  courts  with  sounding  praise. 

Wide  as  the  world  is  Thy  command. 

Vast  as  eternity  Thy  love  ; 
Firm  as  a  rock  Thy  truth  must  stand, 

When  rolling  years  shall  cease  to  move. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  15 

Dr.  W.  A.  Bartlett,  a  former  pastor  of  this  church, 
read  Ephesians  fourth  chapter  to  the  seventeenth  verse, 
and  led  in  prayer.  The  two  hundred  and  ninety-eighth 
hymn  to  the  tune  of  Austrian  Hymn  was  then  sung  as 
follows  : 

Glorious  things  of  Thee  are  spoken, 

Zion,  city  of  our  God ; 
He  whose  word  cannot  be  broken, 

Formed  thee  for  His  own  abode  ; 
On  the  Rock  of  Ages  founded. 

What  can  shake  Thy  sure  repose  ? 
With  salvation's  walls  surrounded. 

Thou  may'st  smile  at  all  Thy  foes. 

See,  the  streams  of  living  waters 

Springing  from  eternal  love, 
Well  supply  Thy  sons  and  daughters, 

And  all  fear  of  want  remove. 
Who  can  faint,  while  such  a  river 

Ever  flows  their  thirst  t'  assuage? 
Grace,  which  like  the  Lord,  the  giver, 

Never  fails  from  age  to  age. 

Round  each  habitation  hovering. 

See  the  cloud  and  fire  appear 
For  a  glory  and  a  covering, 

Showing  that  the  Lord  is  near ; 
Thus  deriving  from  their  banner 

Light  by  night  and  shade  by  day, 
Safe  they  feed  upon  the  manna 

Which  He  gives  them  when  they  pray. 

During  the  offertory  the  choir  sang  Martin's  "  How 
amiable  are  Thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of  Hosts,  my  soul 
longeth,  yea  even  fainteth  for  the  courts   of  the  Lord." 


THE   CENTENNIAL   SERMON.* 

BY 

Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.D., 
Pastor  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church, 


•♦Your    fellowship    in  the  Gospel    from    the    first    day   until    now." 
(Philippians  i  15. ) 

"  From  the  first  day  until  now."  That  first  day  was 
a  day  of  small  things,  of  limited  horizon  and  narrowed 
circle.  Its  progress  was  through  the  age  of  modern 
miracles  —  the  century  which  has  given  to  civilization 
its  strongest  sceptre  and  widest  empire  —  the  century 
which  has  endowed  the  earth  with  liberated  science  ; 
with  multiplied  arts ;  with  enriched  literature ;  with 
republican  government;  with  a  simpler,  larger,  and 
richer  religious  knowledge  and  faith.  In  that  day  of 
small  things,  the  state  was  but  a  narrow  strip  along  the 
Atlantic ;  the  government  was  an  experiment ;  the 
church  was  a  flickering  torch  in  the  wilderness.  The 
state  in  that  century  has  met  its  problems  with  resolu- 
tion and  intelligence  and  extended  its  sceptre  across 
the  continent  and  the  seas.  The  government  has  as- 
serted and  confirmed  its  right  to  life  and  empire  ;  and 
the  church  has  gained  a  louder  voice,  a  stronger  scep- 
tre, a  mightier  congregation. 

The  century  of  this  church's  life  is  almost  contempora- 
neous with  the  life  of  the  capital,  and  its  touch  has  been 
varied  and  significant  in  the  varied  and  significant  life 
of  the  capital  and  of  the  nation. 

*  Stenographically  reported  by  Mr.  A.  Warner  Parker. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  17 

It  is  asked,  in  the  very  beginning  of  such  a  discourse. 
How  can  you  celebrate  the  centennial  of  the  New  York 
Avenue  Church,  whose  name  dates  back  not  much 
further  than  fifty  years,  and  in  the  presence  of  an 
existent  First  Church  which  has  not  yet,  and  will  not 
for  some  years,  attain  its  centennial?  Well,  in  the  first 
place,  let  us  remember  that  the  church,  which  was 
the  beginning  of  this  church,  was  not  associated,  whilst 
it  was  an  Associate  Church,  with  the  American  Presby- 
terian Church.  It  was,  for  twenty  years  after  its  origin, 
a  part  of  the  Associate  Reformed  Church,  a  branch 
of  the  Scotch  Church  transplanted  here,  whose  char- 
acteristic was  an  emphatic  orthodoxy  in  doctrine, 
and  in  worship  the  exclusive  use  of  the  psalms  of 
David.  The  Associated  Reformed  Church,  whose 
local  name  was  the  F  Street  Church,  antedated 
the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  but  was  not  associated 
with  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  America  for  twenty 
years.  And,  when  the  union  of  the  F  Street  Church 
and  the  Second  Church  was  consummated,  the  mere 
fact  that  in  the  absorption  of  one  by  the  other  a 
new  name  was  given  does  not  change  the  identity  or 
life  of  the  church.  Would  any  man  claim  that  his 
wife's  life  was  dated  only  from  the  date  when  she  as- 
sumed his  name  by  marriage?  And  I  am  told  that  leg- 
islatures can  change  the  name,  whilst  they  would  not 
dare  to  change  the  individuality,  of  a  man.  This 
church  antedates  all  others,  save  one,  in  the  city  of 
Washington.  It  was  born  in  the  year  1803.  In  1859  ^^ 
changed  its  name,  but  not  its  identity,  in  the  church  life 
that  came  to  it  under  the  title  and  in  the  experience  of 
the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 

When  this  church  was  organized,  Washington  was 
not  an  attractive  place, — residences  were  few;  slashes 
were   abundant ;  gardens  and  fields,  in  bad  order,  ex- 


18  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

tended  up  through  this  immediate  neighborhood  ;  Penn- 
sylvania avenue,  the  Appian  Way  of  Washington, 
was  but  a  small  street,  muddy  and  full  of  ruts,  crossed 
in  the  lower  part  of  it  by  a  few  streets  quite  as  unat- 
tractive and  often  unusable  ;  travel  was  by  lumbering 
coaches,  from  the  Capitol  to  the  White  House  and  on  to 
Georgetown ;  the  huntsman  shot  quail  yonder  under 
the  shadow  of  the  Capitol ;  and  brides  went  seeking  gar- 
lands for  their  bridals  on  the  Anacostia  Flats.  The 
best  land  was  valued  at  fourteen  cents  a  foot.  Presi- 
dent Jefferson,  personally,  superintended  the  planting 
of  four  rows  of  Lombardy  poplars  along  Pennsylvania 
avenue  from  the  Capitol  to  the  White  House,  an  avenue 
that  in  the  spring  was  a  series  of  impassable  beds  of 
red  clay.  The  church  attendants  from  the  suburbs 
bounced  over  deep  cuts,  rocks,  and  even  tree  stumps, 
and  the  villagers  trod  on  grass  in  the  streets  and  occa- 
sionally waited  patiently  for  the  ruminating  cow  to  step 
aside,  whose  jingling  bell  was  the  only  Sabbath  bell  of 
Washington.  It  was  a  day  of  wood  fires,  of  the  cur- 
few, of  powdered  wigs  and  queues — a  day  of  magnificent 
distances,  of  few  constables,  fewer  office  seekers,  and 
only  one  letter  carrier  between  the  navy  yard  and 
Georgetown — the  day  of  the  straggling  village,  with 
never  a  dream  of  the  stately  Capitol  of  brick  and 
marble.  It  was  the  day  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  ; 
the  dav  of  the  JefTerson  administration  ;  the  day  of  the 
beginnings  of  men  and  things  for  the  larger  national 
life  and  experience  of  to-day.  A  little  handful  of 
Scotch-Irishmen  came  with  the  government  from  Phila- 
delphia to  Washington,  and  to  them  came  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Laurie  from  Scotland,  by  the  advice  of  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Mason  of  New  York.  He  brought  with  him  his 
young  Scotch  wife  to  the  capital,  which  seems  even  in 
those  early  days  to  have  been  the  favorite  wedding  trip. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  19 

He  came,  lumbering  in  the  stage,  from  Philadelphia, 
and  then  from  Baltimore,  by  many  changes,  through 
difficult  roads,  with  harsh  experiences  of  travel  by  day 
and  by  night ;  so  that  we  are  quite  ready  to  believe  the 
story  that,  wearied  and  disgusted,  he  at  last  stuck  his 
head  out  of  the  window,  calling  to  the  driver  :  "  Driver, 
aren't  we  getting  near  to  Washington?"  "  Sir,"  said 
the  driver,  "  we  have  been  driving  through  it  for  two 
hours,"  It  was  his  privilege  to  gather  together  this 
little  handful  of  Presbyterians.  Their  first  meeting 
place  was  in  the  lobby  of  the  old  Treasury  hall,  I  believe 
destroyed  subsequently  by  the  British.  His  inadequate 
salary  compelled  him  to  seek  a  clerkship  in  the 
Treasury,  in  which  double  work  he  continued  all  his  life. 
It  was  his,  not  only  to  preach,  but  to  solicit  funds  for 
the  new  building  as  far  north  as  Boston,  and  as  far 
south  as  Savannah  ;  to  hunt  up  the  scattered  sheep  ; 
often  to  make  the  fires  and  sweep  the  floor,  that  his 
people  might  worship  in  comfort.  He  brought  from 
Scotland  two  silver  cups  which  were  heirlooms  in  his 
father's  house.  These  were  used  for  a  long  time  as  the 
communion  service,  and  they  still  exist  and  have  been 
loaned  to  our  historical  exhibit  by  his  granddaughter, 
Mrs.  Theo.  Mosher. 

In  a  few  years  a  little  building  was  occupied  on  the 
corner  of  Fourteenth  and  F  streets,  where  the  extension 
of  the  New  Willard  now  stands.  In  1807  enough 
money  was  collected  to  erect,  a  few  yards  further  west, 
a  brick  building,  which  was  used  until  the  erection  of 
this  church  building,  and  which,  subsequently,  was 
known  as  the  Willard  hall.  In  this  church  he  con- 
tinued for  fifty  years.  It  was  the  first  place  for  Prot- 
estant worship  erected  in  this  city.  In  his  older  years 
infirmities  incapacitated  him  from  regular  work.  Ser- 
vice was  supplied  at  first  by  the  Rev.  Septimus  Tuston, 


20  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

a  native  of  Philadelphia,  who  gave  a  few  years  to  this 
associated  service,  but,  compelled  by  his  health  to  with- 
draw, gave  the  subsequent  years  of  his  life  to  a  special 
care  for  the  colored  people,  and,  in  the  latter  years,  to 
the  cause  of  the  Freedmen.  Following  him,  came 
Rev.  Ninian  Banantyne,  but  only  for  a  few  years,  in 
which,  by  gentleness,  by  geniality,  by  tenderness,  by 
active  sympathy,  by  conservative  service,  he  won  a 
large  and  cherished  place.  On  his  death,  he  was 
buried  by  the  east  side  of  the  church,  but,  on  the  subse- 
quent enlargement  of  the  building,  his  body  was  carried 
to  the  Congressional  cemetery.  A  tablet  to  his  memory 
was  erected  in  the  F  Street  church,  which,  in  some 
way,  has  disappeared ;  but  his  memory  and  work 
abide.  The  Rev.  Levi  H.  Christian  supplied  the  pulpit 
a  short  time.  There  came  for  four  years  Rev.  D.  X. 
Junkin,  subsequently  known  and  honored  in  the  whole 
church  as  an  able  preacher  and  ecclesiastic. 

It  would  be  injustice  to  forget  the  services  of  Rev. 
Joseph  Nourse,  who,  born  in  London,  Eng.,  in 
1754  A.  D.,  came  to  this  countr}'^  at  fifteen  years  of 
age,  became  a  Presbyterian  minister,  had  honorable 
record  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  lived  through  two 
wars,  three  systems  of  government  and  eight  adminis- 
trations, and  especially  in  his  later  years  endeared  him- 
self to  the  young  church  by  his  constant  and  devoted 
service. 

For  fifty  years.  Dr.  Laurie  was  pastor.  He  supple- 
mented his  meagre  salary  by  a  clerkship  in  the  United 
States  Treasury.  He  was  a  shepherd  to  the  whole 
community.  He  organized  and  was  the  first  secretary 
of  the  Washington  City  Lyceum.  He  was  first  presi- 
dent of  the  public  school  board.  He  established  and 
labored  in  the  first  school  for  colored  youth.  He  was 
active  in  organizing  the  first  societies  for  the  relief  of  the 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  21 

poor  and  destitute.  And  at  last  the  end  came  to  the  hard, 
strong  life  of  gift  and  sacrifice,  whose  mission  was  to 
lay  foundations,  but  whose  monument  is  in  the  redeemed 
lives  and  effective  organization  of  to-day.  Dr.  Junkin, 
who  had  been  co-pastor,  remained  for  one  year  follow- 
ing the  death  of  Dr.  Laurie.  After  him  came  Dr. 
Gurley,  whose  life  is  so  intimately  identified  with  the 
history  of  this  church  and  community,  and  scrolled 
with  special  incidents  in  the  history  of  the  nation. 

But  let  us  not  anticipate,  but  recall  the  fact  that  in 
1819  a  few  persons  connected  with  the  American  Pres- 
byterian Church,  finding  the  church  at  Georgetown  too 
far  distant  for  regular  attendance,  were  encouraged  by 
the  pastor,  and  eminently  by  the  ministrations  of  his 
son,  the  Rev.  Stephen  Balche,  to  organize  in  this 
neighborhood  a  church  for  public  worship.  It  was  then 
a  great  common  ;  the  population  slow  in  its  advance 
thitherward.  They  organized  with  fourteen  families: 
built  on  this  spot  a  little  brick  building.  As  one  emerged 
by  its  two  or  three  wooden  steps,  he  looked  out  upon  a 
great  common,  to  the  north  a  few  scattered  houses, 
trees  and  shrubbery  where  now  is  Franklin  Park ;  fac- 
ing him  was  an  odoriferous  tanyard,  through  which  ran 
a  pretty  full  stream  ;  the  centre  of  the  square  was  a 
bog,  always  under  water  and  abounding  in  water 
snakes,  to  the  delight  of  the  small  boy.  Yonder,  at 
Thirteenth  and  H  streets,  w^as  a  clump  of  trees,  giving 
to  the  house  they  shaded  the  name  of  "  The  Seven 
Oaks."  The  streets  were  as  nature  formed  them,  except- 
ing Fourteenth  street,  which,  as  an  important  thorough- 
fare into  the  country,  was  surfaced  with  a  coat  of  gravel. 
To  this  church  came  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  of  strong 
presence  and,  subsequently,  of  distinguished  character 
and  life  in  the  history  of  the  whole  church.  Strong, 
earnest,  able,  he  preached  three  times  on  the  Sabbath, 


22  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

in  the  afternoon  at  the  market  place  ;  gave  himself  very 
heartily  to  evangelistic  work,  so  that  in  midsummer  one 
of  the  most  effective  revivals  occurred  in  the  history  of 
the  community.  It  is  said  of  him  that  preaching  in  the 
market  place,  where  gathered  about  him  all  sorts  and 
conditions  of  men,  a  bar-keeper  said  he  would  go  to 
hear  that  man  Baker,  if  he  would  preach  on  the  text  he 
would  give  him.  Mr.  Baker  consented,  and  the  bar- 
keeper, more  familiar  with  common  phrase  than  with 
his  Bible,  sent  in  his  text,  "  Mind  your  own  business." 
And  Mr.  Baker  announced  his  text  from  I  Thessalo- 
nians  4:  11,  "That  ye  do  your  own  business,"  and  by 
his  exposition  of  what  is  one's  own  business  won  the 
heart  of  the  bar-keeper,  who  became  a  regular  attend- 
ant upon  his  ministry.  In  this  church  John  Qiiincy 
Adams  was  a  constant  attendant,  attracted  to  Mr.  Baker 
by  his  pulpit  power  and  his  winning  personality,  and 
became  his  life-long  friend.  From  here.  Dr.  Baker 
went  to  Savannah  and  different  sections  of  the  country, 
and  his  evangelism  was  as  a  flaming  fire.  In  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  he  built  large  and  strong  the  foundations 
of  the  educational  and  ecclesiastical  life  in  Texas  that 
are  to-day  his  enduring  monument.  It  ought  to  be  said 
of  him,  in  this  connection,  that  often  in  the  recent  work 
of  Mr.  Moody  that  evangelist  had  Dr.  Baker's  sermons 
translated,  printed,  and  distributed  in  Europe,  as  fer- 
vent, eloquent,  and  effective  appeals  of  evangelism.  He 
was  followed  by  Rev.  John  N.  Campbell,  of  brief  but 
memorable  history  in  connection  with  this  church  ;  a 
man  of  rare  culture  and  ability,  but  whose  whole  career 
here  is  overshadowed  by  the  Peggy  O'Neal  episode. 
She  and  President  Andrew  Jackson  were  attendants 
upon  the  worship  of  this  church  and  the  politic-social 
excitement  penetrated.  The  pastor  undertook  to  chal- 
lenge the  presidential  pewholder,  and  the  result  may  be 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  23 

imagined.  When  an  irresistible  force  rushes  against 
an  impenetrable  wall,  something  breaks.  The  Presi- 
dent withdrew  from  the  church ;  Mr.  Campbell  was 
called  to  the  First  Church,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  where  he 
had  a  distinguished  ministry  for  thirty  years  and  till  his 
death. 

Then  there  came  into  this  church  a  succession  of 
ministers.  The  little  handful  of  people  had  the  finan- 
cial difficulty  that  so  often  taxes  ecclesiastical  life,  but 
there  came,  one  after  another,  earnest  consecrated  lives, 
each  with  its  special  gift,  and  gathered  into  symmetry 
and  life  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church. 

Rev.  Edward  Smith  served  for  three  years,  but  we 
have  no  record  of  his  work.  None  the  less  is  the  quiet, 
unrecorded  pastorate  without  honor,  carr3nng,  as  it 
often  does,  the  richest  savor  and  an  eternal  benediction. 
For  four  years  Rev.  Courtland  Van  Rennssalaer  gave 
his  service  to  the  struggling  church.  It  is  a  distinction 
to  this  church  to  have  the  association  of  a  name  so  hon- 
ored and  beloved  in  the  whole  church.  Of  distinguished 
colonial  family,  of  large  wealth,  trained  by  his  father  to 
a  large  and  rich  munificence,  he  gave  his  pastoral  ser- 
vice here  and  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  at  Burlington, 
N.  J.,  and,  subsequentl}?-  until  his  death,  to  the  Presby- 
terian Board  of  Education.  He  has  written  his  name  in 
golden  letters  in  the  affections  and  achievements  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Rev.  W.  W.  Eells  followed  with  a  quiet  and  unevent- 
ful pastorate  of  four  or  five  years,  and  after  him  the 
Rev.  P.  H.  Fowler,  later  moderator  of  the  New  School 
General  Assembly.  Then  there  came  a  Rev.  Mr. 
Wood,  a  Congregational  minister,  whose  coming  was 
as  a  tempest,  for  out  of  the  seventy  or  eighty  members, 
forty  entered  a  protest  against  the  preaching  of  a 
Congregational  minister,  as  subversive  of  Presbyterian 


24  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

doctrine  and  contrary  to  the  law  of  the  church,  and  the 
forty  persons  marched  themselves  out  of  the  church  and 
organized  for  worship  in  a  neighboring  hall.  Subse- 
quently came  the  Rev.  Mr.  Eckard,  a  Philadelphia 
lawyer,  missionary,  and  teacher.  He  came  for  his  firs* 
service  and  found  only  a  congregation  of  one.  But 
subsequently,  by  earnest  effort,  the  congregation  was 
enlarged,  and  his  beautiful  spirit  and  simple  teaching 
brought  harmony  and  unity ;  and  he,  withdrawing 
finally,  at  first  to  Lafayette  College,  Pa.,  and,  in  the 
eighty-third  year  of  his  age,  to  his  home  at  Abingdon, 
Pa.,  left  this  memory  of  his  life,  that  he  had  shaped  the 
disorganized  elements,  held  them  together  and  secured 
the  property  for  the  subsequent  union  which  resulted  in 
our  large  and  historic  life. 

Honor  here  should  be  given  also  to  Rev.  J.  G.  Hamner, 
who  gave  several  months  of  hard  and  gratuitous  work 
for  the  rescue  of  the  little  flock. 

So  the  situation  lies :  The  Second  Church,  dis- 
organized, more  or  less  discouraged,  only  a  handful  of 
people,  worshipping  often,  even  in  the  former  days, 
with  the  F  Street  Church  under  Dr.  Laurie's  care,  and, 
more  frequently  in  the  latter  days,  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  Dr.  Gurley.  In  1859,  the  inevitable  came,  the 
two  churches  united  under  the  name  of  the  New  York 
Avenue  Presbyterian  Church,  accepting  the  F  Street 
pastor.  Dr.  Gurley,  selling  their  property  on  F  street, 
tearing  down  the  little  brick  building  on  this  site  and 
erecting  the  present  structure.  I  am  told  that,  at  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  this  building,  there  was  a 
gathering  of  three  thousand  people,  making  manifest 
the  large  impress  upon  the  community  even  at  that  early 
date.  It  was  Dr.  Gurley's  good  fortune  that  Providence 
gave  him  name  and  place  in  this  critical  time  of  the 
church's  history,  whose  influence,  tact,  and  skill  brought 


:.fr,  mm 


The  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church. 
1862— 1895. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  25 

together  and  held  together  the  varied  elements  of  the 
two  churches.  He  came  well  furnished  from  two  dis- 
tinguished pastorates  in  Indianapolis,  Ind.,  and  Dayton, 
Ohio.  He  moved  through  the  trying  period  of  the 
Civil  War  with  dignity,  with  tact  and  effectiveness. 
He  was  not  a  man  of  harmful  compromise.  Very 
likely  a  man  often  of  wise  silences.  I  do  not  suppose 
it  was  said  of  him  in  those  days,  as  was  said  of  many 
others,  that  one  never  could  know  when  he  prayed  for 
the  President.  Without  a  doubt  he  prayed  for  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  President  Lincoln, 
who  was  a  regular  attendant  upon  his  services, 
and  his  devoted  friend,  explained  his  choice  of  Dr. 
Gurley  because,  as  he  said,  "  Gurley  does  n't  preach 
politics."  I  suppose  he  meant  by  that  "  Gurley  does  n't 
preach  partisan  politics."  In  the  large  and  comprehen- 
sive sense,  politics  must  be  preached  ;  the  large  duties 
of  citizenship,  the  absolute  obligations  of  patriotism, 
especially  in  times  of  necessity  and  peril,  must  be 
preached  in  the  faithful  message  of  Christ.  He  was  in 
frequent  counsel  and  friendship  with  President  Lincoln. 
He  knelt  in  prayer  at  the  bedside  of  the  martyred 
President ;  he  delivered  the  eulogy  in  the  East  room  of 
the  White  House ;  he  accompanied  the  body  to  its 
burial  at  Springfield,  and,  on  the  way,  wrote  the  hymn 
that  was  sung  on  that  occasion.  His  pastoral  life 
demands  a  more  detailed  narration  than  is  possible  in  this 
discourse.  This  church  is  his  monument.  His  death-bed 
was  one  of  beauty.  It  is  striking,  to  read  of  the  death 
of  the  two  men  who  were  so  distinctly  the  master  builders 
here.  Dr.  Laurie,  upon  the  Sabbath,  knowing  that  the 
end  was  coming,  as  it  did  come  upon  that  day,  sent  word 
to  his  congregation  to  sing  for  him  "Jerusalem,  my 
happy  home,  name  ever  dear  to  me."  And  it  was  Dr. 
Gurley's  grace  to  send,  on  his  last  Sabbath,  a  written 

3 


26  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

message  to  his  waiting  people,  proclaiming  with  his 
last  words  the  simplicity  and  comfort  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ  in  his  own  heart.  He  died  September  30,  1868, 
in  the  fifty-second  year  of  his  age.  His  name  we  hold 
in  treasured  memory,  and  congratulate  ourselves  that 
he  still  abides  in  the  usefulness  and  faith  and  honor  of 
children  and  children's  children  in  this  church  and 
community. 

He  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Mitchell,  young, 
fearless,  vigorous,  independent,  a  splendid  preacher,  a 
man  of  large  Scriptural  knowledge,  wide  scholarship, 
and  of  keen  analysis  both  of  truth  and  duty.  He  had 
his  storms,  I  believe  (you  have  had  a  good  many  here), 
but  they  were  the  result  of  fearlessness  which  had  con- 
viction, and  did  not  hesitate  at  its  expression.  He  led 
the  church  successfully  through  the  adoption  of  the 
limited  term  eldership,  not  without  some  little  friction 
and  noise,  and  it  was  his  also  to  establish  the  Bethany 
Mission,  which  has  always  since  been  a  cherished  and 
blessed  wrecking  station  of  the  church.  He  wrote 
himself  in  strong  characters  into  all  our  subsequent  life. 
Leaving  here,  he  had  honored  pastorates,  first  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  and  subsequently  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  where 
he  still  abides,  and  where  his  name  is  in  merited  affec- 
tion and  honor,  and  his  pulpit  a  recognized  power  and 
benediction.  He  was  followed  for  four  3'ears  by  the 
Rev.  John  R.  Paxton,  original,  dramatic,  independent, 
striking  in  appearance  and  expression,  whose  person- 
ality and  pulpit  power  gathered  about  him  great  throngs 
of  admirers.  He  wrote  his  impress  and  influence  in 
the  largely  increased  numbers  and  gifts  of  this  church. 
From  here  he  went  to  a  conspicuous  pastorate  in  New 
York,  from  which,  after  ten  years  of  metropolitan  popu- 
larity and  distinction,  he  retired  from  active  professional 
life. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  27 

His  successor  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  A.  Bartlett,  who 
had  thirteen  beautiful  years  of  delight  and  success.  He 
came  at  the  time  of  the  church's  great  opportunity, 
with  the  wisdom  and  the  power  for  their  recognition 
and  use.  The  membership  largely  increased  ;  the  gifts 
multiplied.  He  summoned  the  affection  and  enthusiasm 
of  the  people.  Under  his  pastorate,  Faith  Mission  was 
established  and  developed.  We  are  glad  to  welcome 
him  here  to-day  to  rejoice  with  us  in  our  centennial 
joy,  as  he  recognizes  to  some  degree  the  results  of  his 
patient,  brilliant,  successful  service.  He  was  succeeded 
by  the  present  pastor  in  1895. 

As  we  survey  this  histor}^,  especially  in  its  first  half- 
century,  we  are  interested,  occasionally  impressed, 
sometimes  amused,  by  certain  distinctive  incidents  and 
usages.  We  read  of  the  announcement  by  Dr.  Laurie, 
posted  on  his  church,  that  "  owing  to  the  indisposition 
of  the  pastor  there  will  not  be  any  divine  service  per- 
formed at  his  meeting-house " ;  frequent  notices  are 
about  his  "  meeting-house."  We  have  advanced  a 
little  further,  and  we  have  enlarged  and  sanctified  the 
"meeting-house"  into  the  church.  It  was  a  day  of 
service  by  "early  candle-light";  a  day  of  afternoon 
mid-week  meetings ;  a  day  of  sunrise  prayer-meetings. 
We  are  told  that  the  presbytery,  meeting  in  the  F 
Street  church  for  successive  days,  held  sunrise  prayer- 
meetings  every  day.  I  suggest  that  to  the  ministers 
who  are  present  for  presbyterial  imitation.  We  some- 
times hear  good  souls  protesting  against  the  pulpit  robes 
as  innovations  ;  the}'^  were  of  use  in  at  least  one  of  the 
early  pastorates,  that  of  Rev.  Mr.  Campbell. 

The  race  prejudice  was  not  very  strong  in  those 
days.  Sessional  records  are  frequent  of  the  admission 
to  membership  of  colored  candidates.  The  early 
records    show  an    active,   if    not    always    harmonious, 


28  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

interest  in  the  music  of  the  church.  I  read  of  the 
moderator  of  the  session  and  four  elders  closinc;  a 
meeting  of  the  session  with  prayer  and  the  singing  of  a 
hymn  !  Imagine  four  of  our  elders  singing  a  hymn  ! 
They  had  precentors,  they  had  also  their  quartette  ;  at 
times  their  choruses.  They  had  at  one  time  very  posi- 
tive principles  on  the  subject,  for  the  session  decided 
once  that  no  instrument  should  be  used  in  the  choir  but 
a  bass  viol  !  What  there  was  particularly  sacred  about 
a  bass  viol,  I  cannot  imagine  ;  but  the  piety  of  our 
ancestors  is  written  in  the  decision.  At  another  time 
they  had  the  flute  and  the  violin  and  the  violoncello. 
It  is  very  interesting  to  notice  their  delicacy  on  the  sub- 
ject. Now-a-days  we  announce  ourselves  very  posi- 
tively ;  but  it  is  interesting  to  read  in  that  old  document 
that  the  session  "preferred" — just  imagine — "the 
session  p?'e/erred"  —  "  that  there  should  be  no  closing 
pieces  after  the  service,  but  would  not  object  if,  occa- 
sionally, there  was  an  opening  piece."  In  the  early 
days,  the  services  of  the  F  Street  Church  must  have 
been  very  barren.  A  recorded  order  of  the  morning 
service  includes  only  one  hymn.  That  would  delight 
the  rapid-transit  christians  of  to-day,  whose  only 
demand  in  public  worship  is  brevity.  Only  one  hymn  ! 
But  they  grew  to  a  larger  appreciation  of  the  beauty 
and  the  grace  of  worship.  They  appropriated  to  the 
choir  all  the  money  their  treasurer  could  collect  in  the 
galleries  —  an  advance  in  appreciation.  They  also  did 
the  unusual  thing  of  adopting  a  resolution  of  apprecia- 
tion and  good  wishes  to  an  organist  who,  after  sixteen 
months'  service,  was  removing  to  another  city.  At  a 
yearly  meeting  they  adopted  a  resolution  thanking  the 
choir — just  think  of  it  —  thanked  the  choir,  for  their 
services  that  added  so  much  to  the  beauty  and  success 
of  their  public  worship.     The   succession  of  our  books 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  29 

of  praise  has  been  Rouse's  Psalms  of  David,  Watt's 
Psalms  and  Hymns,  Presbyterian  Psalmodist,  Laudes 
Domini,  The  New  Laudes  Domini,  and  the  Hymnal  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  now  used.  Another  charac- 
teristic is  their  active  discipline.  Discipline  to-day  is 
very  informal  and  hesitant ;  but  they  did  not  hesitate. 
Intemperance  was  a  frequent  cause  for  discipline  ;  non- 
attendance  of  church  ;  neglect  of  the  ordinances  ;  gos- 
sip ;  slander;  fashionable  society  ;  extravagant  parties  ; 
and,  above  all  things,  idleness.  They  suspended  the 
men  for  idleness,  too.  We  will  not  restore  that  charge, 
our  session  might  be  too  busy. 

Certain  characteristics  abide  in  the  church  from  the 
earliest  days.  One  of  those  is  church  loyalty.  It  stands, 
as  it  has  always  stood,  by  its  own  church.  It  was  a 
Presbyterian  Church  without  any  if,  or  but,  or  perhaps, 
and  it  was  not  ashamed  to  say  so.  It  had  no  excuses 
to  offer,  no  apologies  to  make.  It  believed  in  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  ;  it  taught  and  lived  it ;  we  can  trace 
that  steadfastness  in  the  beginning  of  things.  We  sel- 
dom realize  the  effectiveness  of  the  first  word,  the  first 
thought,  and  the  first  touch  in  organized  life.  Yonder, 
a  century  ago,  these  few  Scotchmen,  narrow,  ignorant, 
bigoted,  if  you  will,  were  men  of  conviction  who  knew 
something  and  believed  it,  and  right  down  into  the 
foundations  of  that  church  they  built  that  conviction, 
and  the  church,  through  the  century,  has  been  standing 
true  to  that  conviction.  Those  of  you  who  have  heard 
the  recent  Sunday  night  sermons,  introductory  to  this 
centennial,  will  recognize  that,  so  far  as  this  pulpit  is 
concerned,  we  do  not  believe  that  Calvin  is  dead.  All 
that  is  truest  and  best  of  Calvin,  the  central  doctrine  of 
Divine  sovereignty,  the  harmonious  system  of  doctrine, 
are  accepted  and  taught  with  conviction  and  enthusiasm 
here  to-day,  believing   that  Calvin   received   them  from 


30  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Augustine,  and  Augustine  from  Paul,  and  Paul  from  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Now  let  us  understand  it ;  let  us  congrat- 
ulate and  proclaim  that  this  church  is  a  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  has  no  apologies  to  make.  We  are  proud 
of  the  same.  It  has  stood  for  Presbyterian  doctrine  and 
worship  and  life  through  the  century.  When  exigencies 
came,  when  forces  were  distinctly  arrayed  for  special 
antagonism,  and  truth  demanded  intelligent  and  heroic 
avowal,  this  pulpit  uttered  no  uncertain  sound,  and 
this  people  had  no  guess  or  perhaps  in  their  belief ;  but 
significantly,  clearly,  absolutely,  it  stood  by  the  stand- 
ards of  the  church  and  the  word  of  God.  Those  elders 
of  the  former  da37s  organized  their  scheme  of  education, 
distributed  the  Confession  of  Faith,  distributed  monthly 
the  tracts  on  the  church  history  and  life  and  personal 
experience,  and  thus  they  built  into  the  life,  injected 
into  the  very  blood  of  this  church,  the  essential,  vital, 
crowning  elements  of  true  spirituality  and  church  suc- 
cess. 

Another  characteristic  was  its  hospitality.  Its  doors 
were  open  constantly  for  union  gatherings  in  religious, 
benevolent,  and  civic  interests.  It  was  in  frequent  use 
by  the  Washington  Orphan  Asylum  and  similar  socie- 
ties for  their  early  anniversaries.  It  was  the  scene 
of  many  public  and  historic  occasions  in  those  days, 
notably  the  farewell  given  to  General  Lafayette  on  the 
occasion  of  his  last  visit  to  this  country,  when  John 
Quincy  Adams,  then  President  of  the  United  States, 
delivered  the  address  which  has  since  become  classic. 
Later,  when  the  Foundry  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
was  being  repaired,  this  church  building  was  given  for 
their  public  worship  ;  and  only  two  years  ago,  when, 
by  the  exigency  of  the  sale  of  their  property,  this  same 
congregation  was  without  a  home,  this  building  was 
offered  for  their  mid-week  meetings,  and  freely  used  by 
them  for  more  than  a  year. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  31 

Whilst  it  is  impossible  to  enumerate  the  many  in- 
stances of  its  hospitality  that  have  become  historic,  it  is 
well,  on  this  occasion,  to  recall  that  in  this  church  was 
held  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
(1893),  which  decided  the  celebrated  Briggs  contro- 
vers}^  the  General  Council  of  the  Alliance  of  the  Re- 
formed Churches  throughout  the  world  holding  the 
Presbyterian  system  (1899),  and  the  sessions  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly's  Committee  upon  the  Revision  of  the 
Confession  of  Faith  (1902).  For  denominational,  interde- 
nominational, and  for  non-denominational  purposes,  for 
benevolent  and  social  activities,  this  church  has  opened 
its  doors,  and  given  rooms  and  welcome  to  our  fellow- 
citizens  ;  and  we  want  to  emphasize  that  to-day,  as 
always,  our  doors  are  open  and  the  glad  hand  and  the 
smiling  face  and  the  best  place  are  ready  in  our  wor- 
ship and  fellowship.  Another  characteristic  of  the 
church  is  its  patriotism.  It  has  alwa3's  been  signifi- 
cant in  its  national  interests,  and  in  no  partisan  sense, 
but  in  a  large  and  rich  way  it  has  stood  four  square  in 
the  questions  of  right  and  duty  and  liberty  as  expressed 
in  national  exigency  and  life.  That  was  in  part  pro- 
duced, in  part  is  expressed,  by  the  unusual  attendance 
of  public  men  upon  its  services.  The  church  is  com- 
monly called  "The  Church  of  Presidents."  There 
have  been  in  frequent  attendance  such  men  as  Millard 
Fillmore  and  other  presidents  ;  but  in  regular  attend- 
ance we  find  such  names  as  John  Qnincy  Adams, 
Andrew  Jackson,  William  Henry  Harrison,  Franklin 
Pierce,  James  Buchanan,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Andrew 
Johnson,  and  before  his  presidency,  Benjamin  Harri- 
son. It  is  a  suggestive  side-light  upon  the  church  in- 
terest of  such  men  to  find  that  President  Pierce  attended 
public  worship  twice  upon  the  Sabbath,  and  that  he  and 
Mrs.  Pierce  entertained  the  Sabbath-school  of  this  church 


32  THH    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

as  specially  invited  guests  at  the  White  House.  You  go 
down  through  the  line  of  vice-presidents,  cabinet  officers, 
justices  of  the  supreme  court,  heads  of  departments, 
men  of  conspicuous  standing  in  the  army  and  nav}'^,  and 
it  is  a  magnificent  roll  of  adherents.  This  church  has 
caught  inspiration,  doubtless,  from  that  fact;  but  its 
patriotism  has  also  been  a  winning  influence  as  it 
caught  the  eye  and  won  the  attention  of  such  men. 
It  is  also  known  as  the  "  Lincoln  Church."  We 
cherish  that  great  name  ;  we  are  proud  of  the  associa- 
tion ;  we  retain  yonder  the  Lincoln  pew  and  are  proud 
that  it  is  ours,  as  we  hope  that  the  generation,  by  our  pa- 
triotism, by  our  delighted  and  delightful  memory,  may 
cherish  and  carry  into  the  generation  that  is  to  come 
the  name  and  influence  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  think 
we  will  all  endorse  the  words  once  used  by  a  pastor  of  this 
church  when  he  said  :  "  I  had  rather  sit  in  that  pew,  if  it 
were  made  of  mud  or  dirt,  than  in  one  of  beaten  gold ; 
it  will  be  a  Mecca  for  our  Presbyterians,  and  an  influ- 
ence for  patriotism  for  our  children  and  our  children's 
children."  The  story  of  the  Lincoln  pew  is  worthy  of  rec- 
ord. When  this  church  was  re-pewed  in  1887-8,  the 
retention  of  the  pew  used  by  President  Lincoln  was  mildly 
urged,  but  its  dark  color  brought  a  quick  decision.  It 
would  be  incongruous  and  off'ensive  in  contrast  with  the 
new  oak  pews.  A  patriotic  insistence  from  a  feminine 
source  installed  it  in  one  of  the  Sabbath-school  rooms, 
where  it  remained  for  years.  Elder  Charles  B.  Bailey 
presented  the  resolution  to  the  annual  meeting  of  the 
church  (1893)  transferring  the  pew  to  the  church  room, 
which  was  adopted  ;  but  only  after  considerable  delay  it 
was  transferred,  and  finally  indicated  as  the  pastor's  pew. 
The  present  silver  plate  bearing  the  appropriate  name 
and  dates  was  another  feminine  suggestion  and  persist- 
ence, and  was  placed  on  the  pew  through  the  generosity 


Thk  F  Street  Presbyterian  Church, 
Later  Willard  Hall. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  33 

of  Mr.  Charles  B.  Pearson.  We  recognize  that  patriot- 
ism is  a  Christian  duty.  We  remember  that  the  best  Jew- 
was  the  one  who  best  loved  Jerusalem.  We  seek  to 
cast  into  our  fountains  of  influence  the  salt  of  Christian 
patriotism  ;  our  prayers,  our  songs,  our  words,  our  ser- 
vices, are  for  the  state,  for  liberty,  for  civic  righteous- 
ness, for  national  life  and  conquest. 

Another  characteristic  of  the  church  has  been  its 
service.  It  has  been  distincjuished  for  the  unusual  ex- 
cellence,  the  beauty,  heartiness,  and  grace  of  its  wor- 
ship. But  through  and  from  that  worship  it  carries  to 
the  community  its  willing  and  large  service.  Figures 
are  hard  to  get  at,  especially  the  early  figures.  But  I 
find  that  there  have  been  added  to  the  communion  roll 
over  three  thousand  persons,  a  Sabbath-school  mem- 
bership to-day  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  schol- 
ars, a  roll  to-day  of  twelve  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
communicants,  exclusive  of  a  reserved  roll  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twent^^-five.  The  money  raised  is  very  nearly 
nine  hundred  thousand  dollars — a  magnificent  record. 
Whilst  this  evangelism  has  characterized  our  individual 
church  life,  our  money,  thought,  and  activity  have  been 
largely  devoted  to  the  development  of  denominational 
interests  in  this  capital. 

This  church  has  been  directly  or  indirectly  concerned 
in  nearly  all  of  our  Presb3'terian  Church  growth.  In 
1828  difficulties  arose  in  the  Second  Church  concerning 
the  election  of  a  pastor,  which  resulted  in  the  formation 
of  'the  Central  Presbyterian  Society,  which  afterwards 
was  brganized  under  the  name  of  the  Fourth  Presbyte- 
rian Church.  In  1853  the  Seventh  Street,  now  the 
Westn^j/iister  Church,  owed  its  existence  to  the  mission- 
ary efforts  of  this  church,  giving  workers  in  its  begin- 
ning in  Columbia  Fire  Engine  house,  the  lot  for  its 
present    site    through    the   generosity    of    Mr.    Charles 


34  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Stott,  an  elder,  and  such  men  to  its  eldership  as  Dr. 
S.  A.  Edwards,  U.  S.  A.,  Mr.  William  Ballantyne, 
and  Mr.  S.  R.  Handy.  When,  in  1S63,  the  present 
Metropolitan  Presbyterian  Church  was  started  on  Cap- 
itol Hill,  several  of  our  members  were  actively  inter- 
ested in  it,  one  of  them,  Mr.  Joseph  Hutchinson,  being 
for  some  time  the  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school. 
In  1865,  during  Dr.  Gurley's  pastorate,  the  young  men's 
meeting,  led  by  a  committee,  among  whom  were  such 
men  as  Gov.  A.  R.  Shephard,  Gen.  E.  C.  Carrington, 
and  U.  L.  Waller,  organized  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  city  the  North  Church,  which  began  its  career 
under  the  wise  pastorate  of  Rev.  Louis  R.  Fox.  About 
1872  a  mission  school  was  established  northeast  of  the 
last-named  church,  which  subsequently  became  the 
Gurley  Memorial  Church.  In  1874,  under  the  pastorate 
of  Dr.  Mitchell,  Bethany  chapel  was  built  and  equipped. 
In  1885  fifty-two  persons  were  granted  letters  to  form 
the  Church  of  the  Covenant.  In  1889  one  hundred 
and  nineteen  members  were  dismissed,  to  organize 
the  Gurley  Memorial  Church.  In  1890  Faith  Mission 
chapel  was  built  and  equipped  for  its  large  work.  The 
last  three  movements  were  under  the  pastorate  of  Dr. 
Bartlett.  In  1890,  during  the  present  pastorate,  an- 
other large  accession  was  dismissed  to  the  Church  of 
the  Covenant,  and  also  another  group,  who  became  the 
organizers  and  supporters  of  the  Washington  Heights 
Church.  This  church  has  also  trained  many  who  have 
risen  to  consecrated  and  distinguished  service  in  the 
Church  of  Christ,  among  whom  we  give  special  mention 
of  Rev.  E.  R.  Craven,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  secretary  of  the 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  ;  Rev.  W.  H.  Rob- 
erts, D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  stated  clerk  of  the  General  Assem- 
bly of   the    Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  Slates 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  35 

of  America;  Rev.  Charles  B.  Ramsdell,  D.  D.,  pastor 
of  the  North  Presbyterian  Church  of  this  city  ;  and  Rev. 
W.  F.  Doty,  of  Tahiti. 

These  are  our  characteristics — church  loyalty,  patri- 
otism, hospitality,  service.  Use  the  gift  that  comes  in 
the  history  and  experience  of  this  hour,  to-day.  Won- 
drous memories  cluster — rich,  fragrant  memories. 
Congratulations,  joy,  song,  but  doubtless  many  a  tear. 
The  fathers,  where  are  they?  The  man  of  longest 
continuous  membership  in  this  church  is  Mr.  Joseph  A. 
Deeble,  with  us  to-day,  rejoicing  in  the  memories  and 
triumphs  of  this  centennial.  The  fathers  unseen  abide 
in  the  word  they  spake,  in  the  grace  they  lived,  in  the 
contribution  they  gave,  and  in  the  influence  that  mem- 
ory preserves. 

«'  The  ones  we  loved, 
They  worshipped  here — we  see  their  steps ; 
The  years  have  not  erased  the  prints 
Of  the  dear  feet — the  sunlight  glints 
Along  the  pathway,  where  they  trod 
Well  sandaled  with  the  peace  of  God." 

Our  faith  is  in  loyalty  to  that  same  church  ;  in  the 
grace  of  that  same  hospitality;  in  the  glow  of  that  same 
patriotism  ;  in  the  sacrifice  of  that  same  service  that 
will,  to  the  generations  following,  declare  that  their 
God  is  our  God,  and  this  God  will  be  their  God,  and 
crown  with  grace  and  glory. 

At  the  close  of  the  sermon  the  congregation  arose 
and  sang  the  three  hundredth  hymn,  as  follows  : 

I  love  Thy  kingdom,  Lord, 

The  house  of  Thine  abode, 
The  church  our  blest  Redeemer  saved 

With  His  own  precious  blood. 


36  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

I  love  Thy  church,  O  God, 

Her  walls  before  Thee  stand, 
Dear  as  the  apple  of  Thine  eye, 

And  graven  on  Thine  hand. 

For  her  my  tears  shall  fall ; 

For  her  my  prayers  ascend  ; 
To  her  my  cares  and  toils  be  given. 

Till  toils  and  cares  shall  end. 

Sure  as  Thy  truth  shall  last. 

To  Zion  shall  be  given 
The  brightest  glories  earth  can  yield. 

And  brighter  bliss  of  heaven. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  John   L. 
French,  of  the  presbytery  of  Washington  City. 


CENTENNIAL  SABBATH. 


An  Evening  of  Reminiscence. 

at  seven  forty-five  in  the  evening. 

The  worship  began  with  the  rendition  by  the  choir  of 
Spohr's  "  Ho,  every  one  that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the 
waters."  The  Scripture  lesson,  being  the  eighty-fourth 
psalm,  was  read  by  the  pastor.  The  one  hundredth 
hymn  to  the  tune  of  Old  Hundred  was  sung  as  follows : 

All  people  that  on  earth  do  dwell, 
Sing  to  the  Lord  with  cheerful  voice ; 

Him  serve  with  mirth,  His  praise  forth  tell. 
Come  ye  before  Him  and  rejoice. 

The  Lord  ye  know  is  God  indeed ; 

Without  our  aid  He  did  us  make ; 
We  are  His  flock.  He  doth  us  feed. 

And  for  His  sheep  He  doth  us  take. 

Oh,  enter  then  His  gates  with  praise. 

Approach  with  joy  His  courts  unto  ; 
Praise,  laud,  and  bless  His  name  always. 

For  it  is  seemly  so  to  do. 

For  why?  the  Lord  our  God  is  good. 

His  mercy  is  forever  sure  ; 
His  truth  at  all  times  firmly  stood. 

And  shall  from  age  to  age  endure. 

The  prayer  was  made  by  Rev.  T.  S.  Hamlin,  D.  D., 
pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Covenant. 

From  this  point  in  the  service  the  hymns  were  lined 
out,  the  organ  was  not  used,  and  the  musical  accom- 
paniment   was    by    flute,    violin,  and    violoncello,   this 


38  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

arrangement  of  the  musical  part  of  the  service  being 
adopted  as  a  reminiscence  of  the  old-time  methods.  The 
six  hundred  and  eighty-fourth  hymn  was  sung  to  the 
tune  of  St.  Martin's. 

Let  children  hear  the  mighty  deeds 

Which  God  performed  of  old ; 
Which  in  our  younger  years  we  saw, 

And  which  our  fathers  told. 

He  bids  us  make  His  glories  known, 

His  works  of  power  and  grace  ; 
And  we'll  convey  His  wonders  down 

Through  every  rising  race. 

Our  lips  shall  tell  them  to  our  sons, 

And  they  again  to  theirs, 
That  generations  yet  unborn 

May  teach  them  to  their  heirs. 

During  the  offertory  the  choir  sang  Billings's  "Christ 
the  Lord  is  risen  indeed,"  an  anthem  of  the  early  days. 
Then  followed — 

SUGGESTIVE  INCIDENTS 

BY    WALTER    CLEPHANE,  ESQ. 

In  his  discourse  this  morning  our  pastor  referred  to 
the  deplorable  conditions  prevailing  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  at  the  opening  of  the  century.  In  a  letter 
written  about  that  period,  Gouverneur  Morris  said  that 
nothing  was  wanting  to  make  the  city  perfect  "  but 
houses,  cellars,  kitchens,  well-informed  men  and  ami- 
able women,  and  other  trifles  of  that  kind."  The  scar- 
city of  churches  seems  not  to  have  troubled  him  over- 
much ;  and  indeed  there  was  a  scarcity  of  churches  in 
those  days.  But  our  predecessors  of  this  church  were 
early  upon  the  ground. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  39 

A  handful  of  Presbyterians  formerly  connected  with 
the  Associate  Reformed  Church  at  Philadelphia,  who 
worshipped  for  a  while  in  a  small  building  back  of  Wil- 
lard's  hotel,  in  the  month  of  May,  1803,  with  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  presbytery  at  Philadelphia,  organized  them- 
selves into  the  F  Street  Church,  calling  for  their  first 
pastor  Rev.  James  Laurie.  Dr.  Laurie  was  a  Scotch- 
man, educated  at  the  Edinburgh  University,  a  classmate 
of  Lord  Brougham.  His  first  wife  was  a  cousin  of  Sir 
Walter  Scott.  So  that  talent  of  no  mean  order  was  thus 
placed  at  the  service  of  this  congregation. 

The  church  over  which  Dr.  Laurie  was  called  to  pre- 
side was  then  holding  its  services  in  the  hall  of  the  old 
Treasury  building,  where  in  the  winter  Dr.  Laurie 
would  himself  start  the  wood  fire.  The  luxury  of  a 
sexton  was  unknown.  During  the  services  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  church  would  place  additional  logs  in  the 
stove,  and  sometimes  the  roar  of  the  burning  wood 
almost  kept  the  preacher's  voice  from  being  heard. 

James  Laurie  was  a  Scotch  Covenanter,  and  a  great 
stickler  for  good  old  Presbyterian  orthodoxy.  It  is  said 
that  on  one  Sabbath,  when  there  happened  to  be  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun,  he  refused  to  permit  the  members  of 
his  household  to  observe  it.  We  can  readily  understand 
how  a  man  of  such  stern  religious  caliber  could  conduct 
the  daily  sunrise  prayer-meeting,  to  which  Dr.  Radcliff'e 
alluded  this  morning,  and  strange  to  say  it  is  said  to 
have  been  well  attended.  Possibly  his  popularity  is 
due  in  some  degree  to  the  fact  that  he  never  but  once 
took  a  written  sermon  into  the  pulpit  with  him,  an 
example  which  has  been  worthily  followed  by  most  of 
his  successors.  He  liked  the  simple  story  of  the  cross, 
told  in  the  plainest  way,  and  advised  all  young  preach- 
ers to  enter  the  pulpit  without  notes,  saying  :   "Just  tell 


40  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

the  old,  old  story  in  your  own  way,  only  be  sure  you  tell 
it."  His  pastorale  extended  over  a  period  of  more  than 
fifty  years. 

While  the  F  Street  Church  was  growing,  slowly  to 
be  sure,  but  nevertheless  steadily,  under  his  ministra- 
tions, the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  of  Washington 
was  struggling  along.  Many  of  its  members  were 
negroes  ;  and  the  same  thing  might  also  be  said  of  the 
F  Street  Church.  Its  first  regular  pastor  was  Dr.  Dan- 
iel Baker,  a  man  of  considerable  note  in  ecclesiastical 
circles,  and  one  for  whom  Mr.  Moody  expressed  the 
greatest  admiration.  His  tombstone  bears  this  simple 
inscription  :  "  Daniel  Baker,  preacher  of  the  gospel,  a 
sinner  saved  by  grace."  During  the  incumbency  of 
Dr.  Baker,  John  Quincy  Adams  was  a  regular  attend- 
ant upon  the  church,  and  one  of  its  trustees,  giving  lib- 
erally for  its  support.  He  occupied  a  pew  against  the 
north  wall  of  the  old  building  which  preceded  this  one. 

President  Jackson  also  attended  this  church  during 
the  succeeding  ministry  of  Dr.  John  M.  Campbell. 
Indeed,  it  is  said  that  most  of  Jackson's  cabinet  also 
worshipped  here  until  the  church  was  almost  disrupted, 
as  was  the  cabinet  itself,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  Mrs. 
Eaton,  wife  of  the  secretary  of  war,  more  familiarly 
known  as  Peggy  O'Neal,  constantly  attended  its  ser- 
vices. Many  of  the  members  and  adherents  threatened 
to  leave  unless  she  did.  General  Jackson  upheld  her 
in  her  course  of  conduct,  and  brought  upon  himself  the 
very  stormy  interview  with  Dr.  Campbell,  which  was 
referred  to  by  our  pastor,  in  which  the  clergyman  told 
the  president  in  very  plain  language  what  he  thought 
of  him.  The  dialogue  ended  disastrously,  for  by  that 
time  many  of  the  members  of  the  church  had  ceased 
their  attendance;  the  presence  of  Mrs.  O'Neal  was  ren- 
dered impossible  ;  President  Jackson  was  so  angry  that 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  41 

he  also  withdrew ;  and  the  pastor  was  left  without  a 
congregation,  and  found  it  expedient  to  resign,  himself, 
which  he  did  shortly  after. 

From  this  time  on,  the  church  dwindled  and  was  fre- 
quently closed ;  dust  settled  on  the  pews  and  pulpit, 
and  the  edifice  itself  seemed  doomed  to  ruin.  Then 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Eckard  arrived  on  the  scene  and  was 
placed  in  charge.  The  first  Sabbath  that  the  church 
was  opened  after  this  season  of  depression,  one  gentle- 
man accompanied  him  to  the  church.  After  waiting  for 
some  time  for  others,  they  closed  the  doors  and  went 
home.  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  they  returned. 
Thirty-four  persons  gathered  for  evening  worship. 
Thirty  of  those  persons  had  come  from  other  churches 
by  request,  to  at  least  give  the  appearance  of  a  congre- 
gation and  lend  encouragement  to  Mr.  Eckard.  There- 
after the  church  progressed  with  varying  vicissitudes 
of  fortune,  until  its  members  united  with  the  F  Street 
Church  in  1859,  when  the  name  of  the  latter  organiza- 
tion was  changed  to  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyte- 
rian Church. 

In  those  early  days  the  Bench  of  Elders  earned  its 
title.  We  find  recorded  at  almost  every  meeting  of  the 
session,  particularly  of  the  old  Second  Church,  a  trial 
of  some  member  who  had  not  lived  up  to  his  vows. 
Suspensions  and  excommunications  for  intemperance, 
profane  swearing,  slander,  even  for  the  non-payment 
of  debts,  were  frequent.  Indeed  we  are  almost  forced 
to  the  belief  that  the  elders  had  little  else  to  do  than  to 
enquire  into  the  shortcomings  of  their  neighbors.  We 
read  in  the  minutes  of  a  meeting  of  the  session  of  the 
Second  Church,  held  in  1826,  that  a  certain  gentleman 
who  had  absented  himself  from  public  worship  for  sev- 
eral months  was  suspended.  Should  our  session  take 
up  such  matters  in  these  days,  I  imagine  its  numbers 
4 


42  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

would  have  to  be  materially  increased,  and  then  the 
body  divided  into  reliefs  for  purposes  of  trial.  I  men- 
tion these  incidents  not  merely  for  the  sake  of  affording 
amusement,  but  in  order  that  we  may  understand  the 
customs  of  that  period.  With  this  object  in  view,  per- 
haps I  will  be  pardoned  if  I  read  to  you  a  few  extracts 
taken  verbatim  from  the  minutes  of  the  session  of  that 
church.  It  would  make  it  more  interesting  if  I  should 
read  the  names  of  the  parties  concerned,  but  reasons  of 
policy  forbid. 

April  1st,  1822. 

'*It  having  appeared  to  the  session  that  Mr 

has  for  a  considerable  length  of  time  been  very  remiss 
in  his  attendance  upon  the  ordinances  of  this  church, 
on  motion  Mr.  Brumley  was  directed  to  call  upon  Mr. 
....  and  enquire  into  the  reasons  of  his  late  remiss- 
ness. Mr.  Brumley  was  directed  to  prepare  a  sessional 
report  to  be  laid  before  the  presbytery  at  their  next 
meeting  in  Baltimore." 

June  14,  1822. 

"Mr.  Brumley  stated  that  he  had  called  upon   Mr. 

.   .   .   .   as  he  had  been  directed,  and  Mr 's  replies 

were  of  such  a  nature  as  to  render  it  inexpedient  for 
session  to  take  any  further  measures  upon  the  subject, 
especially  as  Mr 's  attendance  upon  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  church  has  of  late  been  more  regular." 

December  8,  1822. 

"  It  being  ascertained  that  Mr ,    one  of  the 

communicants,  had  attended  at  the  race-ground  during 
the  races  and  retailed  spirituous  liquors  there,  Mr.  Brum- 
ley was  appointed  to  cite  him  to  appear  before  session 
next  Wednesday  evening  to  give  his  reasons  for  so 
doing." 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  43 

Mr.  Brumley  seems  to  have  been  selected  to  exercise 
the  unenviable  functions  of  inquisitor  in  many  of  these 
cases. 

Next  session, 

"  Mr ,  being  present,  was  requested  to  state 

his  reasons,  etc.  He  gave  his  reasons  in  full,  together 
with  the  circumstances  which   led   him  to  attend  during 

the    races.      The    session,  after  hearing    Mr 's 

statement,  took  into  consideration  many  palliating  cir- 
cumstances connected    with    the    case,  and    moreover, 

being  assured  by  Mr that  he  was  sincerely  sorry 

for  what  he  had  done  and  that  he  would  do  so  no  more, 
deemed  it  sufficient  that  the  Moderator  should  admonish 
Mr ,  which  was  accordingly  done." 

F  Street  Church,  1826. 

Mr was  accused  of  intemperance,  and  inter- 
posed the  following  ingenious  plea  : 

"  He  acknowledged  that  he  had  occasionally  been 
overcome  with  drink,  but  that  in  every  instance  in  which 
he  was  so  overcome,  as  well  as  he  could  recollect,  it 
was  when  in  company  with  those  who  had  deceived 
him  as  to  the  strength  of  the  liquor  he  had  been  invited 
to  take." 

Notwithstanding  the  obvious  merit  of  this  plea,  it  did 
not  save  him  and  he  was  suspended.  Later  on  it 
appears  that  his  friends  continued  to  deceive  him,  and 
as  he  did  not  part  company  with  them,  he  was  forced  to 
sever  his  relations  with  the  church. 

Second  Church,  1824. 

A  certain  physician  applied  for  admission  to  the 
church  ;  his  examination  before  the  session  was  prayer- 
fully protracted ;  and  for  som.e  time  his  reception  was  a 
matter  of  doubt.     I  now  read  from  the  minutes  : 


44  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

"The  session  being  satisfied  with  regard  to  Dr.  .  .  . 's 
piety,  be  was  admitted,  but  as  it  was  shown  to  session 
that  Dr.  .  .  .  occasionally  attended  the  large  parties 
usually  given  by  the  heads  of  Departments  and  others 
high  in  office  in  this  city,  and  it  being  the  opinion  of 
session  that  such  places,  to  say  the  least  of  them,  are 
unfavorable  to  growth  in  grace,  the  Moderator  was 
requested  to  announce  to  Dr.  .  .  .  his  admission,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  state  to  him  the  views  of  the  ses- 
sion, and  earnestly  and  affectionately  recommend  that 
for  the  future  he  withdraw  from  such  places." 

Whereupon  the  following  resolution  was  solemnly 
spread  upon  the  minutes  : 

"Whereas,  large  and  expensive  parties  are  frequently 
given  in  this  city,  and  whereas  attendance  upon  them 
seems  calculated  to  injure  a  Christian's  growth  in  grace, 
and  moreover  has  at  least  the  appearance  of  too  great 
conformity  to  the  world,  therefore  resolved,  that  while 
session  do  not  consider  an  occasional  attendance  upon 
them  a  sufficient  ground  of  formal  church  censure,  yet 
session  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  their  disapprobation 
of  them,  and  do  most  affectionately  and  earnestly  recom- 
mend to  all  communing  with  our  church  not  to  attend 
such  places." 

Just  why  an  occasional  attendance  upon  these  gath- 
erings should  not  have  been  deemed  unfavorable  to 
growth  in  grace  to  a  proportionate  extent,  is  not  dis- 
closed. Possibly  in  this  way  our  forefathers  left  a  loop- 
hole so  that  in  case  they  themselves  should  ever  be  so 
fortunate  as  to  receive  invitations  to  these  functions, 
they  might  attend  without  violating  the  rules  of  the 
church,  and  thus  ascertain  how  far  a  single  "party" 
would  accelerate  the  Christian  upon  the  downward 
path. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  45 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  subject  of  church  music 
was  one  causing  considerable  irritation  over  fifty  years 
ago.  In  these  days  we  cannot  understand  how  a  mat- 
ter of  this  kind  can  possibly  cause  dissensions,  but  we 
find  a  number  of  references  among  the  minutes  of  the 
old  F  Street  Church  to  this  subject,  and  accompanied 
by  letters  of  complaint  as  to  the  methods  in  vogue.  I 
note  this  entry  under  dale  of  June  26,  1848  : 

"  On  motion  it  was  resolved  that  the  leader  of  the 
choir  be  requested  to  confine  himself  in  singing,  to  the 
air,  and  when  a  new  tune  is  to  be  introduced,  it  may  be 
practiced  either  before  or  after  the  services  so  that  the 
congregation  may  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  it." 

Most  of  the  incidents  that  I  have  related  to  you  are 
beyond  the  personal  recollection  of  the  oldest  of  us. 
With  those  events  of  more  modern  times,  after  the 
building  of  this  liouse  of  worship,  I  deem  it  more 
fitting  that  others  should  speak.  I  cannot  forbear 
to  mention,  however,  that  in  1862,  this  church,  then 
new,  only  escaped  being  seized  for  use  as  a  hospi- 
tal, by  the  personal  intervention  of  President  Lincoln, 
who  was  then  an  attendant  upon  its  worship,  and  who 
so  frequently  sat  in  yonder  pew.  The  congrega- 
tion, upon  assembling  for  the  weekly  prayer-meet- 
ing, found  lumber  stored  against  the  New  York 
Avenue  side  of  the  building.  All  recognized  the 
significance  of  this.  Mrs.  Dr.  Gurle3s  the  pastor's 
wife,  hastened  to  the  White  House  and  had  an  inter- 
view with  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  at  once  issued  the  order 
which  spared  the  church. 

Little  Willie  Lincoln  was  a  member  of  our  Sunday- 
school  and  deeply  interested  in  its  work.  He  was  very 
fond  of  Dr.  Gurley,  who  was  present  at  his  death-bed, 
and  expressed  the  wish  to  him  that  the  contents  of  his 


46  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

little  iron  bank  be  given  to  the  missionary  society  of 
the  Sunday-school.  Not  long  afterwards  Mrs.  Lincoln 
gave  Dr.  Gurley  the  money,  which  the  pastor  presented 
to  the  society  at  one  of  its  Sunday-afternoon  meetings, 
saying:  "Willie  Lincoln  wanted  the  missionaries  to 
have  his  money  from  his  iron  bank,  so  I  have  brought 
it  to  you  as  he  requested,  this  afternoon.  Willie  will 
never  come  to  our  meetings  again.  He  has  gone  to 
live  with  God  in  his  beautiful  home  above.  May  you 
all,  yes,  every  one  of  you,  meet  him  there." 

And  now  for  a  few  moments,  permit  me  to  draw 
aside  the  veil  and  take  you  with  me  into  a  little  room 
towards  which  at  the  dead  of  night  the  hearts  of  a  nation 
are  straining.  Upon  the  bed  lies  the  tall  form  of  him 
who  so  often  sat  in  that  pew  in  the  centre  aisle.  Around 
him  stands  a  little  group  composed  of  a  grief-stricken 
family  and  a  few  men  conspicuous  in  the  life  of  the 
nation.  By  the  bed-side  is  seated  a  Christian  minister. 
The  end  has  come.  All  that  was  mortal  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  has  departed  for  the  great  beyond.  After  a 
silence  pregnant  with  grief.  Secretary  Stanton  turns  to 
the  clergyman,  and  in  a  broken  voice  says,  "  Doctor, 
won't  you  say  something  ?"  Then  Dr.  Gurley,  after 
struggling  for  the  mastery  of  his  feelings,  says  :  "  Let 
us  talk  with  God,"  and  pours  forth  a  prayer  eloquent  in 
its  simplicity,  but  full  of  solace  to  the  bereaved  ones 
around  him.  And  so  the  spirit  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
borne  upwards  to  its  eternal  resting-place  upon  the 
wings  of  a  prayer  uttered  by  the  lips  of  the  pastor  he 
loved  so  well. 

Our  predecessors  have  passed  away.  Their  religion 
was  identical  with  ours,  but  its  outward  expression  was 
in  many  ways  different.  What  they  believed  was 
wrong  we  now  regard  with  indifference.  But  dare  we 
say  that  they  were  absolutely  wrong  and  we   are  abso 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  47 

lutely  right  ?  Probably  even  the  boldest  of  us  would 
hesitate  before  saying  this.  Had  it  not  been  for  their 
sturdy  faith  and  strict  doctrines,  it  may  be  that  we 
should  to-day  be  wandering  in  the  darkness  of  uncer- 
tainty and  skepticism. 

"  With  us  is  left  the  sacred  charge 
To  hold  in  memory  dear 
All  that  their  lives  so  truly  taught, 
Of  faith  and  holy  fear." 

Then  an  address  was  delivered  by  Rev.  William 
Alvin  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  this  church  for  twelve 
and  a  half  years,  from  1882  to   1894,  upon — 

SOME  PASTORAL  REMINISCENCES. 

There  is  something  august  and  stupendous  about  a 
century.  The  word  itself  is  so  ample,  its  forces  are  so 
world-compelling.  When  I  say  that  I  was  graduated 
from  college  more  than  half  a  century  ago,  and  that  I 
have  lived  two  thirds  of  these  hundred  years,  I  feel 
related  to  the  aeons  and  the  ages. 

While  a  century  is  but  a  tick  in  the  clock  of  destiny, 
it  is  still  long  enough  probation  for  a  judgment  day ; 
long  enough  to  test  principles,  theories,  experiments, 
and  observe  their  trend,  and  all  thinkers  are  summing 
it  up.  It  has  been  a  century  of  upheaval  and  start- 
ling changes.  We  have  quarreled  with  the  stars  for 
their  secrets,  and  battled  with  the  earth  for  its  myster- 
ies. No  line  of  thought,  religious,  governmental,  or 
scientific,  but  has  been  radicated  and  readjusted.  We 
have  excelled  the  fish  in  swimming  ;  we  are  on  the  eve 
of  surpassing  the  bird  in  flight.  Religion  has  been 
proved,  called  in  from  irrelevancies  to  essentials.  Rev- 
erent scholarship  has  sifted  the  Bible,  to  separate  history 


48  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

from  Eastern  legend,  discriminating  the  voice  of  God 
from  the  jargon  of  oriental  jugglers  and  thaumatur- 
gists,  to  recognize  sunlight  from  swamplight,  till  we 
know  that  neither  growth  in  grace  nor  human  progress 
depend  upon  somnambulism  and  spooks. 

One  hundred  years  ago  that  great  patriot  and  states- 
man, who,  after  the  substance  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  agreed  upon  by  the  committee,  cast 
its  verbal  form — the  admiration  of  the  world,  and  which 
has  placed  a  laurel  wreath  of  immortality  on  his  brow — 
President  Jefferson,  smitten  with  Voltaire's  leprosy  of 
unbelief,  though  a  hero  of  liberty,  has  had  a  sporadic 
piebald  progeny  of  agnostic  followers  at  best. 

Infidelity  is  death,  not  life.  It  is  a  stone,  not  a  seed. 
It  has  no  inoculating  power.  Twelve  negations  are  a 
coroner's  jury  sitting  on  the  remains  of  the  thirteenth 
negation,  the  dead  burying  the  dead.  The  Christian 
belief  of  every  president  since,  down  to  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  and  not  Jefferson's  cavil,  explains  the  past, 
controls  the  present,  and  challenges  the  future.  Reli- 
gion emerges  from  the  century,  purged,  purified,  broad- 
ened, humanized,  and  with  a  practical,  near  God.  The- 
ories of  government  come  out  of  the  furnace,  with  the 
republican  form  pre-eminent.  Republics — the  people 
sovereign.  A  limited  monarchy,  the  attempted  wed- 
ding of  the  king  and  the  people,  grows  weaker  and 
weaker  as  a  competitor.  The  opera  bouffe  kingdom  of 
Lebaudy,  the  Frenchman,  on  the  uninhabitable,  trop- 
ical sand  dunes  of  Africa,  ridicules  monarchy,  and 
laughs  it  out  of  serious  competition. 

While  it  has  been  a  century  ripped  up  by  wars  infer- 
nal, it  has  also  enjoyed  peace  and  forecast  of  the  broth- 
erhood of  man  almost  celestial.  Radical  !  Not  how 
God  works,  but  is  there  a  God?  Not  is  the  law  of 
gravitation  universal,  but  is  there  a  law  of  gravitation? 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  49 

The  size  of  the  globe  for  occupancy  has  been  doubled 
the  last  hundred  years.  We  have  counted  and  graded 
the  human  famil}',  and  Providence  by  a  "  coup  de 
dieu  "  has  placed  us  in  the  Philippines,  the  open  door  of 
the  Orient,  to  educate  the  largest  and  most  important 
mass  of  undigested  humanity.  We  are  there  with  a 
few  muskets  to  terrify,  but  with  an  unseen  army  of  in- 
telligence and  character  to  conquer.  We  are  there  with 
the  all-conquering  form  of  government  and  the  all-con- 
quering religion. 

We  stand  at  the  finish  of  this  century,  opulent  in 
achieved  results,  with  this  modern  intellectual  and  relig- 
ious human  force  fervid  to  wrest  the  next  progress 
from  things  and  thoughts,  and  hurl  humanity  into  the 
future,  with  something  swifter  than  electricity  and  more 
luminous. 

What  I  wish  to  say  is,  that  this  New  York  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church  has  been  contemporaneous  with 
this  writhing  century.  It  was  born  in  the  year  of  the 
Louisiana  purchase.  It  lives  in  the  year  of  the  ocean- 
bound  republic.  It  has  touched  with  its  prayer  and 
praise,  with  its  holy  men  and  women,  everything  that 
has  ever  occurred  in  this  District  of  Columbia ;  the 
march  of  the  nation's  laws  improving  for  a  hundred 
years,  the  decisions  of  that  great  unblemished  court, 
the  signatures  of  the  executive,  the  stress  and  strain  of 
mental  conflict — all  have  been  touched  and  shot  through 
by  the  influences  from  this  church.  Its  character  is 
seen  in  the  result,  the  undetachable  odor,  the  unac- 
countable light,  modifying  and  bettering.  Its  warp  has 
sought  the  woof  by  the  swift  flying  shuttle  of  events 
until  it  is  a  parcel  of  the  fabric,  giving  tint  and  pattern 
to  it  all. 

A  church  so  placed  in  this  strategic  city  of  Washington 
swings  a   searchlight  around  the  horizon  of  the  nation. 


50  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Washington  is  a  queer,  anomalous  place.  When  Major 
I'Enfant,  with  Washington's  surveyor's  scrutiny,  threw 
down  his  map  upon  the  quivering  swamps  and  hillocks, 
where  mosquitoes  fattened  on  a  diet  of  malarial  and 
typhoid  fever,  and,  surcharged  with  venom,  respected 
neither  the  courtesy  of  the  senate  nor  the  etiquette  of 
diplomacy,  but  inocculated  pauper  and  president  alike, 
and  after  a  due  period  of  incubation,  they  were  either 
dead  or  immune ;  and  when  the  wisdom  of  congress 
gave  it  its  unaccountable  relation  to  the  body-politic,  no 
one  could  have  forecast  its  present  sanitary  condition 
nor  its  success  as  a  city.  Russia  in  the  midst  of  her 
tyranny  has  the  democratic  Mir,  a  pathetic  protest 
against  czarship,  a  plea  for  liberty.  Washington  is  an 
absolute  tyranny  in  the  midst  of  a  great  republic,  an 
eloquent  testimony  to  the  fascinations  of  monarchy. 
The  democratic  Mir  does  not  govern  its  community 
more  successfully  than  the  monarchical  Washington 
rules  its  consenting  and  willing  citizens. 

There  are  no  happier  serfs  than  the  citizens  of 
Washington,  rejoicing  in  the  privilege  of  taxation  with- 
out representation.  We  hear  no  Patrick  Henry  crying 
"  Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death  !  "  No  wise  politician 
ever  approaches  them  with  the  sinews  of  war  for  legiti- 
mate election  expenses,  for  happily  they  have  no  vote 
to  sell.  Nor  are  they  beleaguered  by  hosts  of  unproduc- 
tive females,  with  strident  voice  and  frantic  gesture,  to 
turn  the  useless  cradle  into  a  ballot-box  in  this  model 
American  city.  Luckily  women  and  men  are  both  alike 
disfranchised. 

It  remained  for  this  church  to  train  a  boy  for  com- 
missioner of  the  District  who  has  occupied  and  ampli- 
fied the  office  as  never  before. 

Anomalous  as  well  in  its  majestic  architecture, 
not    exactly    according    to    any    of  the    old    patterns, 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  51 

neither  orthodox,  Greek  nor  Gothic,  but  altogether 
adjusted  and  adapted  to  the  free  purposes  and 
liberal  forces  for  which  this  nation  stands.  What 
nation  has  a  Capitol  more  fit,  more  vast,  more 
dignified,  more  majestic  in  its  dome-crowned  mag- 
nificence? Symbol  of  the  states  federated  into  one 
unique  nationality  !  What  a  peerless  city  will  this  be 
when  all  departments  of  the  government  are  fittingly 
housed  in  white  marble,  when  all  the  projected  parks 
and  avenues  fling  out  their  dainty  foliage,  when  tri- 
umphal arches,  and  memorial  bridges,  and  living  bronze 
amplify  the  story  of  our  patriotism  !  This  is  Liberty 
city.  This  is  Freedom's  capital.  Ah  !  Washington  the 
superb — not  Washington's  federal  city,  but  the  city  of 
Washington  with  his  name  written  high  that  any  eye 
can  read  at  a  glance  the  quality  of  the  man  who  fath- 
ered this  nation,  and  the  quality  of  this  nation,  his  off- 
spring. 

All  of  this  to  account  for  this  church,  its  marvelous 
opportunity,  its  tremendous,  unspeakable  power.  No 
force  could  unstrand  its  benignity  from  the  high  ideals 
of  the  American  people.  These  are  precisely  the 
things  we  prize  and  that  we  are  here  to  emphasize. 
This  is  the  quality  in  the  tree  that  makes  leaves  and 
fruit.  This  is  the  quality  in  the  man  that  begets  the 
fruits  of  the  spirit.  It  is  the  invisible  pervasive  some- 
thing that  swings  and  vitalizes  and  harmonizes  this  ma- 
jestic universe  of  live  things.  With  the  best  results  of 
science  well  in  hand,  dynamics,  chemics,  and  elemen- 
tary laws  of  the  universe  and  mind,  we  will  soon  control 
nature  by  touching  a  button,  and  mental  and  moral  phe- 
nomena by  an  act  of  will. 

So  I  say  I  prize  most,  not  the  statistical  record  of  my 
ministry  here,  but  its  inner  spiritual  power.  The  twelve 
years  and  six  months  that  I  was  pastor  of  this  church  is 


52  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

the  longest  occupancy,  excepting  that  of  the  noble, 
gifted,  and  self-sacrificing  Dr.  Gurley»  the  organizer  of 
this  present  church  and  builder  of  this  edifice. 

I  was  here  one  eighth  of  a  century,  three  presidential 
terms,  two  seinatorial.  Life  is  not  measured  by  time, 
but  quality.  The  most  important  feature  of  this  church 
is  not  its  age — it  could  not  help  it — but  it  is  its  useful- 
ness. It  is  said  that  men  boast  of  their  age  when  they 
have  nothing  else  to  boast  of. 

These  twelve  and  a  half  years  may  be  looked  at  in 
three  ways.  First,  the  exterior  work  of  the  church  ; 
second,  the  church's  relations  to  the  city  in  its  charity 
and  humane  efforts  ;  and,  third,  its  spiritual  life. 

Straitened  for  room  and  pressed  by  demands  for 
Presbyterian  expansion,  we  released  with  our  blessing 
and  contribution  many  influential  families  of  Christian 
workers  to  organize  the  important  and  successful 
Church  of  the  Covenant.  It  was  a  curious  fact,  noted  by 
the  trustees  at  the  time,  that  the  pews  vacated  for  this 
exodus  were  all  taken  before  the  next  Sabbath. 

Again,  Gurley  Mission,  by  its  varied  success  and 
position,  appealed  to  our  judgment  as  ready  to  pass 
from  mission  success  to  an  organized  church. 

We  enlarged  the  building  ;  we  granted  letters  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three,  if  I  remember  aright,  of  our 
efficient  officers  and  wisest  workers  to  meet  this  grand 
emergency. 

It  followed  speedily,  from  the  hunger  of  this  church 
for  practical  work,  the  organization  of  Faith  Chapel, 
housed  in  a  commodious  brick  building.  Then,  also, 
we  furbished  up  the  ever-faithful  Bethany.  After  these 
subtractions  from  the  membership,  the  five  hundred  and 
more  enrolled  communicants  at  the  beginning  of  my 
ministry  were  swelled  to  the  vicinity  of  one  thousand 
two  hundred  at  its  finish.  In  God's  plan,  opportunity 
waits  upon  wise  endeavor. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  53 

This  was  the  fecund  period  of  the  church's  history, 
its  prolific  era,  the  mother  church  to  many,  the  mother 
of  churches  as  well.  I  have  always  counted  it  a  privi- 
lege to  have  followed  in  this  pastorate  two  men  so 
gifted,  so  strong,  so  successful  as  Drs.  Mitchell  and 
Paxton.  When  the  church  was  thoroughly  repaired  at 
an  expense  of  over  eighteen  thousand  dollars,  the 
Lincoln  pew  was  discarded  with  the  others.  We 
speedily  discovered  the  mistake  ;  restored  it  to  its  best 
condition  without  changing  its  form,  and  later  it  was 
embellished  with  that  legend  which  is  placed  upon  the 
silver  label  to  preserve  a  historic  record  and  erect  a 
shrine. 

1  am  informed  that  never  in  all  its  history  was  the 
church  more  numerous,  more  prosperous,  or  more  influ- 
ential than  under  the  guidance  of  its  present  pastor. 

The  relations  of  this  church  to  the  city  were  intimate 
and  direct ;  its  fraternal  fellowship  with  all  denomina- 
tions marked  and  vital. 

The  Presbyterian  Alliance,  founded  about  this  time, 
engaged  the  interest  of  the  church  by  electing  its  pastor 
first  president.  When  Bishop  Paret  removed  from  the 
city,  a  vacancy  was  left  in  the  presidency  of  the  board 
of  directors  at  Columbia  Hospital.  The  pastor  of  this 
church  was  chosen  to  fill  it. 

As  president  of  the  Associated  Charities,  as  the 
only  clergyman  a  member  of  the  Literary  Society,  as 
trustee  of  Howard  University,  one  of  the  directors  of 
the  Humane  Society,  he  served,  putting  the  church  in 
direct  communication  with  the  highest  moral  and  educa- 
tional and  humane  interests  of  the  city.  A  fairly  dis- 
agreeable, though  profitable,  labor  were  my  tramps  to 
cabinet  officers  and  their  subordinates,  to  save  the  ser- 
vices to  the  government  of  some  one  marked  for  execu- 


54  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

tion,  and  the  salary  to  his  family.  On  one  occasion  the 
commissioners  of  the  District  appointed  the  pastor  of 
this  church  to  make  a  personal  and  impartial  examina- 
tion of  all  the  institutions  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
which  received  money  from  the  government.  This 
was  faithfully  done,  and  the  report  published  in  pam- 
phlet and  on  file.  While  pastor  of  this  church  I  served 
as  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors  of  the  "  House 
of  the  Good  Shepherd"  on  the  hill  back  of  George- 
town. Possibly  the  only  Protestant  minister  holding  an 
official  position  in  a  Roman  Catholic  charity  in  Chris- 
tendom. 

An  historic  general  assembly  crowded  this  church 
for  the  Briggs  trial.  All  the  shining  lights  of  Presby- 
terianism,  with  positive  opinions,  were  in  conflict,  a 
heroic  battle,  conducted  with  Christian  courtesy,  and 
decided  by  the  will  of  the  majority.  The  pastor  of  this 
church  was  chairman  of  the  committee  of  arrange- 
ments, as  is  customary,  and  so  managed  the  large 
finances  that  after  paying  all  expenses,  about  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  contributions  were  returned  to  the  various 
churches  of  the  District. 

Now  I  say  that  this  expansion  and  amplification  of 
the  church,  these  evidences  of  its  wider  usefulness  in 
this  great  city,  are  not  the  things  that  I  prize  the  most. 
I  count  them  not  the  jewels  of  my  pastorate.  They 
are  second  to,  though  an  evidence  of,  the  unbroken 
spiritual  communion  of  the  membership  ;  they  are  second 
to  the  movement  of  new  converts  to  the  table  of  the 
Lord ;  second  to  the  sending  of  men  converted,  home 
to  their  constituents  to  live  the  divine  life  and  organize 
churches  ;  second  to  the  long  and  quiet  years  of  relig- 
ious enjoyment,  when,  as  one  united  and  happy  family, 
we    trained    our    children    in    the    Sunday-school  and 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  55 

walked  in  the  green  pastures  and  beside  the  still  waters 
and  refreshed  our  souls.  Oh,  blessed  fellowship  of  the 
saints  !  What  visions  of  those  who  have  sat  on  these 
seats,  and  who  now  walk  in  white  ! 

"Ah!  blessed  vision,  blood  of  God! 
The  spirit  beats  its  mortal  bars, 
As  down  dark  tides  the  glory  slides. 
And  star-like,  mingles  with  the  stars." 

In  Oak  Hill  repose  the  remains  of  our  infant  son,  my 
namesake,  where  we  placed  our  asterisk  for  the  white 
city  of  God.  Here,  also,  was  the  childhood  of  our 
living  son.  So  Washington  is  hallowed  not  only  as 
containing  the  church  of  my  final  service,  the  church 
of  exceeding  and  lasting  affection,  but  as  well,  conse- 
crated to  holy  family  memories. 

May  I  mention  a  few  of  those  holding  distinguished 
positions  that  worshipped  here?  The  judges  of  that 
model  supreme  court.  Strong,  Bradley,  and  Harlan, 
a  choice  representative,  and  of  the  other  important 
courts  in  the  District,  Andrew  Bradley,  McArthur,  and 
Weldon  ;  four  secretaries  of  state,  Blaine,  Frelinghuy- 
sen,  Gresham,  and  John  W.  Foster,  the  only  survivor; 
Senators  Frye  and  Elkins,  Faulkner  and  Gorman,  Mc- 
Millan and  Brice,  Burroughs  and  Farwell  ;  and  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet,  Robert  Lincoln,  Wilson,  Folsom, 
Vilas,  Miller,  and  Hoke  Smith.  The  army  and  navy 
were  well  represented  in  Generals  Dunn  and  Drum, 
Greely  and  Breckenridge,  while  for  the  navy  stands  that 
scholarly  and  modest  Christian  gentleman.  Admiral 
Sampson,  with  Wadhams,  Brownson,  and  others. 

We  mention  these  as  indicating  the  quality  of  mind  to 
which  this  church  has  always  ministered,  from  the  days 
of  Andrew  Jackson  ;  but  the  ones  who  have   ministered 


56  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

to  the  spiritual  life  of  the  church  most,  and  enriched  the 
experience  of  its  pastor,  have  heen  the  quiet,  faithful 
saints,  out  of  the  glare  of  public  position,  many  on  sick 
beds,   many  enduring  painful  suffering  and  trial. 

If  the  displacing  of  a  drop  of  water  stirs  the  entire 
ocean  ;  if  the  beating  of  the  air  is  registered  in  the 
outermost  limits  of  the  atmosphere, — then  I  say  we  can- 
not gather  up  the  potency  of  an  undying  thought  for 
good,  of  a  simple  service  for  Christ. 

This  church  has  stood  like  a  Leyden  jar  surcharged, 
shooting  its  blessedness  into  the  nation.  Along  all  the 
hilltops  of  vision  the  prophets  tell  of  the  coming  day. 
The  best  thing  Elijah  the  Third,  in  his  raid  and  tirade  in 
New  York,  said,  was  that  he  thought  the  devil  was 
getting  lazy,  and  there  are  those  who  see  in  this  undis- 
puted progress  of  the  race  toward  justice  and  righteous- 
ness, toward  brotherhood  and  Christ,  who  believe  that 
in  the  long  swinging  eternity  the  good  God  will  tire  out 
the  bad  devil.  It  is  a  moral  absurdity  to  imagine,  even 
by  any  theological  indirection,  that  God  would  or  could 
create  a  devil  stronger  than  himself.  God  planted 
the  seed  of  this  universe,  and  he  will  harvest  the  crop. 

So,  beloved,  I  come  with  a  message  of  cheer  and 
hope ;  this  race  is  in  struggle,  trembling  up  the  heights 
and  about  to  shudder  into  the  radiant  mantle  of  the 
everlasting  morning.  We  bring  you  no  baptism  of 
tears,  but  a  benediction  of  victory  and  Divine  approval. 

When  it  is  all  over,  as  it  will  be  soon,  my  fervent 
prayer  is  that  each  one  of  us,  members  of  this  house- 
hold of  faith,  may  receive  a  welcome,  an  approval,  and 
a  home. 

The  five  hundred  and  twenty-second  hymn  was  then 
sung  to  the  tune  of  Balerma. 


James  Laurie,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  57 

The  Lord's  my  Shepherd,  I  '11  not  want ; 

He  makes  me  down  to  lie 
In  pastures  green  ;   He  leadeth  me 

The  quiet  waters  by. 

My  soul  He  doth  restore  again  ; 

And  me  to  walk  doth  make 
Within  the  paths  of  righteousness, 
,  ,       E'en  for  His  own  name's  sake. 

Yea,  though  I  walk  through  death's  dark  vale. 

Yet  will  I  fear  none  ill ; 
For  Thou  art  with  me ;  and  Thy  rod 

And  staff  me  comfort  still. 

My  table  Thou  hast  furnished 

In  presence  of  my  foes  ; 
My  head  Thou  dost  with  oil  anoint. 

And  my  cup  overflows. 

Then  followed  an  address  upon  — 

THE  NATIONAL  IMPRESS  OF  THIS  CHURCH. 


By  Gen.  Henry  V.  Boynton. 

"  Canst  thou  bind  the  sweet  influences  of  Pleiades?" 
Thus,  Job,  in  his  wonderful  poem,  looking  up  to  the 
heavens  from  the  plains  of  Asia,  in  the  days  of  the 
early  patriarchs,  gave  voice  to  those  emotions  of  wonder 
and  reverence  with  which  all  the  tribes  of  men  look  out 
upon  the  heavens. 

Wherever  this  great  song  of  the  Bible  has  become 
known  through  its  countless  translations,  millions  upon 
millions  of  the  race,  gazing  upon  the  arch  of  stars, 
blazing  with  its  firmaments  of  worlds  and  spanning  the 
universe,  have  received  into  their  souls  the  inspiration, 
the  reverence  and  the  spirit  of  worship  which  filled  the 


58  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

mind  of  Job  when  he  gazed  upon  the  Pleiades  and  pro- 
claimed their  sweet  and  solemn  influences  to  the  suc- 
ceeding ages. 

And  thus  David,  the  singer  of  Israel,  celebrating 
these  same  heavens  in  his  immortal  song  :  "  There  is 
no  speech  nor  language  where  their  voice  is  not  heard. 
Their  line  has  gone  out  through  all  the  earth,  and  their 
words  to  the  end  of  the  world." 

This  church  of  ours  has  its  Pleiades — its  constellation 
of  holy  men — who,  ministering  at  this  altar  from  the 
early  days  of  the  Republic,  have  caused  the  sweet  influ- 
ences of  our  religion  to  descend  in  blessing  for  a  hun- 
dred years,  upon  men  of  might  in  all  ranks  of  the 
nation's  history,  and  upon  a  great  multitude  of  lowly 
Christian  workers  who,  through  the  years,  by  them- 
selves or  their  successors,  have  continually  made  glad 
the  humble  homes  of  the  capital. 

Think  for  a  moment  of  the  men  of  national  and  inter- 
national aff'airs,  who,  during  its  early  days,  or  in  the 
fulness  of  its  years,  have  attended  its  services. 

But  before  passing  to  them,  let  me  name  an  army  of 
silent  workers,  who,  to  my  mind,  for  giving  this  church 
one  element  of  widespread  influence  take  rank  above 
presidents,  cabinets,  legislators,  and  judges — our  Chris- 
tian mothers  of  a  hundred  years,  who,  sowing  the  good 
seed  with  precious  prayers,  and  watering  it  with  their 
tears,  have  sent  the  sweet  and  never-forgotten  influ- 
ences of  their  pure  religion  from  a  mother's  knee, 
keeping  pace  with  the  wandering  feet  of  manhood,  into 
every  corner  of  the  land  and  across  all  seas.  This  may 
seem  a  digression  where  the  theme  assigned  is  the  New 
York  Avenue  Church  in  the  national  life,  but  that  trite 
saying  is  a  true  one,  "  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle 
rules  the  world." 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  59 

What  may  be  called  the  presidential  record  of  this 
church  is  notable.  For  the  statistics  to  follow  I  am 
largely  indebted  to  Mrs.  J.  O.  Adams,  the  efficient 
chairman  of  the  Church  Committee  on  Historical  Re- 
search. 

President  John  Quincy  Adams  was  a  regular  attend- 
ant, and  a  trustee  during  his  administration.  He  was 
present  in  all  weathers.  At  one  time  he  gave  his  check 
for  twelve  hundred  dollars  to  meet  church  emergencies. 
At  another,  he  advanced  the  same  amount  to  assist  the 
pastor  in  purchasing  a  home,  and,  later,  when  the 
pastor  desired  to  sell,  bought  the  house  at  its  increased 
value.  His  secretary  of  the  treasury  and  secretary  of 
the  navy  attended.  His  life  in  this  church  is  fittingly 
described  in  the  closing  words  of  the  inscription  on  his 
tomb  at  Quincy,  Mass.:  "This  Christian  sought  to 
walk  humbly  in  the  sight  of  God." 

Following  Jackson's  second  term  Martin  Van  Buren 
sometimes  visited  this  church,  and  H[arrison,  who  suc- 
ceeded him,  with  his  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Hon. 
Thomas  Ewing,  were  attendants. 

President  Polk  was  a  member  of  the  congregation. 
President  Pierce  was  regular  both  at  morning  and  even- 
ing services,  and  was  often  at  the  weekly  meetings. 
He  held  that  every  public  man  should  set  an  example 
of  reverencing  religion. 

President  Buchanan  was  a  member  of  this  congre- 
gation. Mr.  Lincoln  was  a  personal  friend  of  Dr. 
Gurley,  and  a  regular  attendant  upon  his  ministry. 
The  pew  he  occupied  is  still  retained.  After  him 
Andrew  Johnson  was  occasionally  present. 

Of  vice-presidents  who  have  been  of  our  congre- 
gation, these  will  occur  to  all :  Colfax,  Wheeler,  Hen- 
dricks, StevcHson,  and  acting  Vice-President  Frye. 


60  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  government,  Sena- 
tors McMillan,  Burrows,  Gordon,  Benjamin  Harrison, 
Faulkner,  Gorman,  Proctor,  Elkins,  and  Alger  were  of 
the  congregation — the  latter  two,  secretaries  of  war, 
and  the  last  the  very  right  arm  of  President  McKinley 
throughout  the  war  with  Spain.  Of  other  cabinet  officers 
there  were  Postmaster  Generals  Wickliffe  in  1841, 
Collamer  in  1849,  Bissell  in  1885.  John  C.  Calhoun, 
as  secretary  of  war,  next  vice-president,  and  afterwards 
secretary  of  state,  worshipped  here,  as  did  Attorney- 
General  William  Wirt  in  the  term  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  Secretary  of  the  Navy  Dobbin  in  1853,  and  of 
recent  years  Secretary  of  State  John  W.  Foster,  Sec- 
retary Noble,  and  Secretary  Hoke  Smith  of  the  Interior 
department,  Attorney-General  Griggs  and  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  Wilson. 

Of  speakers  of  the  house  of  representatives  many  will 
remember  Mr.  Pennington,  and  all  will  recall  Mr.  Blaine 
and  Mr.  Colfax. 

Of  the  judiciar}?-,  the  attendants  have  been  Justice 
Grier,  Justice  Campbell,  Justice  Bradley,  Justice  Strong 
who  was  long  an  officer  of  the  church,  and  Justice  Har- 
lan, now  an  officer  and  one  of  our  leaders.  This  our 
national  court  of  last  resort,  except  when  war  is  invoked 
to  legislate,  has  ever  been  a  Christian  court,  and,  as  we 
all  remember  with  thanksgiving,  Justice  Brewer  gave 
that  notable  opinion  from  which  there  was  no  dissent  in 
the  court,  that  ours  is  a  Christian  country. 

Chief  Justice  Cartter  and  Justice  McArthur  of  the 
supreme  court  of  the  District,  and  Chief  Justice  Drake 
and  Justice  Joseph  Casey,  of  the  court  of  claims,  were 
regular  attendants  and  very  active  in  church  affairs, 
Justice  Casey  being  for  a  long  time  a  leading  officer  of 
the  church. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  61 

Justice  Cartter,  though  an  unbeliever  in  many  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  church,  was  one  of  those  most  regular 
in  his  attendance,  once  giving  me  as  the  reason,  that  he 
considered  it  an  obligation  resting  upon  every  public 
man  to  show  his  respect  for  religion  by  his  presence  at 
church  ordinances,  since  the  only  sure  and  lasting 
foundation  for  any  nation  must  rest  on  the  general  prin- 
ciples of  the  Christian  religion. 

Of  the  military  arm  of  the  government,  the  rolls 
show  Gen.  R.  B.  Marcy,  inspector-general,  and  his 
son-in-law,  General  McClellan,  Gen.  Silas  Casey,  of 
high  rank.  Admiral  Foote,  a  devoted  Christian  of  most 
noteworthy  war  service,  and  recently  General  Breckin- 
ridge, inspector-general,  and  a  general  officer  in  the 
field  through  the  war  with  Spain,  Paymaster-General 
Stewart  of  the  navy,  Paymaster-General  Larned  of  the 
army,  Judge-Advocate  General  Dunn,  Judge-Advocate 
General  Davis,  Admiral  Dahlgren,  General  Lawton, 
and  Admiral  Sampson. 

Of  distinguished  citizens  a  great  company  :  Commis- 
sioner Macfarland,  Commissioner  Ross,  Dr.  Peter 
Parker,  Jacob  Gideon,  George  S.  Gideon,  Professor 
Henry,  Gov.  A.  R.  Shepherd,  Governor  Wells,  Professor 
Newcomb,  Jeremiah  M.  Wilson,  Commissioner  of 
Education  Dr.  W.  T.  Harris,  J.  Ormond  Wilson, 
long  superintendent  of  schools,  Mr.  A.  T.  Stuart,  now 
our  able  and  distinguished  superintendent  of  schools, 
E.  M.  Gallaudet,  Gen.  Hiram  Walbridge,  Gen.  B. 
H.  Bristow,  solicitor-general  and  afterwards  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  Solicitor-General  Phillips,  Senator 
Mitchell  of  Oregon,  and  a  host  of  others  of  this 
general  class. 

Of  distinguished  women  there  were  from  the  White 
House:  Mrs.  John  Quincy  Adams,  Mrs.  Harriet  Lane 


62  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Johnston,  Mrs.  Lincoln  and  Mrs.  Cleveland.  Lady 
Franklin  attended,  and  nearly  all  the  ladies  from  the 
families  of  the  cabinet  officers  already  named. 

While  we  look  back  with  reverence  to  those  early 
presidents  who  gave  their  influence  to  building  up  this 
church,  let  us  not  fail  to  note  and  do  honor  to  a  presi- 
dent of  this  our  day,  who  is  not  only  a  regular  attendant 
upon  Christian  services,  but  a  frequent  participator  in 
them,  and  a  constant  advocate  of  clean  living,  of  high 
ideals,  of  a  citizenship  which  fears  God  and  labors  for 
the  best  interests  of  the  state  and  of  humanity.  An  able 
soldier,  of  intense  patriotism,  and  purest  courage  on  the 
field  of  battle,  intellectually  endowed,  and  guided  by 
Christian  principles,  is  such  a  president  as  all  Ameri- 
cans may  delight  to  honor.  And  the  influence  exerted 
for  good  through  weekly  announcements  of  the  press  to 
the  reading  millions  of  our  land,  that  he  attends  the  ser- 
vices of  his  church  and  partakes  of  its  communion,  will 
be  cited  in  some  future  centennial  long  after  we  have 
finished  our  labors,  as  we  now  point  to  the  work  of  those 
presidents  of  the  elder  day  to  whom  we  do  proper  hom- 
age to-night. 

"  And  what  shall  I  more  say?  for  the  time  would  fail 
me  to  tell  of  our  Gedeons  and  Baraks  and  Samsons  and 
Jephthaes  ;  of  our  Davids  also,  and  Samuels,  and  of  our 
prophets — " 

After  such  recital  it  is  superfluous  to  ask  if  the  New 
York  Avenue  Church  has  exerted  influence  in  national 
aff'airs.  The  question  is.  How  shall  we  measure  it? 
By  what  mental  system  of  weights  and  measures  can  it 
be  so  stated  that  the  human  mind  can  compass  it?  As 
we  have  seen,  to  name  those  who  have  listened  to  its 
teachings  is  to  call  a  roll  of  presidents,  cabinets,  judges, 
statesmen,  soldiers,  and  civilians — all  of  the  highest 
rank,  reaching  back  in  an  unending  column  to  the  early 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  63 

days  of  the  nation.  Who  shall  tell  what  important  pol- 
icies of  peace  or  war  have  been  adopted  or  modified 
because  of  the  Christian  teachings  from  this  pulpit ; 
what  laws  have  been  enacted  or  influenced  in  the  inter- 
est of  our  common  humanity  ;  what  decisions  of  up- 
right judges  have  blessed  the  land  ;  what  the  leaven  of 
righteousness  working  through  the  citizens  of  might 
and  the  humbler  Christians,  who  have  crowded  these 
courts  for  a  hundred  years,  has  accomplished  in 
strengthening  and  ennobling  the  life  of  the  republic? 

These  and  their  sweet  influences  are  all  beyond  hu- 
man means  of  measurement.  "  Their  lines  have  gone 
out  into  all  the  world,  and  their  words  to  the  ends  of  the 
earth." 

Sweet,  solemn,  and  exultant  has  been  the  march  to 
and  through  all  these  fields  of  Christian  effort  and  tri- 
umph. Not  those  alone  whose  names  have  been  writ- 
ten on  the  rolls  of  the  church  have  profited  by  its  teach- 
ings ;  but  a  vast  company,  greater  perhaps  than  those 
which  the  church  can  number  as  its  own,  have  doubt- 
less been  held  by  the  precepts  here  proclaimed  to  that 
high  morality  which  ever3'where  characterizes  the  dom- 
inating mass  of  American  citizenship. 

This  advance  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Church  has 
been  a  wonderful  march  through  the  century,  always 
to  the  grand  music  of  the  church  triumphant,  mingled 
with  the  glad  sounds  of  wedding  bells,  softened  with 
the  baptismal  chant,  and  saddened  with  funeral  dirges 
as  successive  generations  were  laid  to  rest. 

Its  light  brightened  from  the  faint  gleams  of  its  early 
days  till  its  beams  became  like  those  of  a  city  set  on  a 
hill,  shining  far  and  wide  over  our  own  land,  reaching 
all  fields  of  missionary  labor,  telling  everywhere  of  that 
Light  which  illumines  the  world. 


64  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

The  first  three  verses  of  the  three  hundred  and  nine- 
ty-fifth hymn  to  the  tune  of  Lenox  was  then  sung. 

Blow  ye  the  trumpet,  blow, 

The  gladly  solemn  sound  ; 
Let  all  the  nations  know, 

To  earth's  remotest  bound, 
The  year  of  Jubilee  has  come  ; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 

Jesus,  our  Great  High  Priest, 

Hath  full  atonement  made  ; 
Ye  weary  spirits,  rest, 

Ye  mournful  souls,  be  glad. 
The  year  of  Jubilee  has  come  ; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 

Extol  the  Lamb  of  God, 

The  all-atoning  Lamb ; 
Redemption  in  His  blood 

Throughout  the  world  proclaim. 
The  year  of  Jubilee  has  come  ; 
Return,  ye  ransomed  sinners,  home. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  Dr.  Bart- 
lett. 


Rev.  Ninian  Banantyne. 


MONDAY 

AT    SEVEN    FORTY-FIVE    IN    THE    EVENING. 


Mr.  Justice  Harlan  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  presided.     After  an  organ  prelude  he  said  : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

I  congratulate  you  upon  the  auspicious  character  of 
this  occasion.  Although  this  is  not  strictly  a  religious 
meeting,  it  is  a  meeting  in  commemoration  of  the  labors 
of  a  religious  organization  during  a  whole  century.  It 
is,  therefore,  most  appropriate  that  the  exercises  be 
preceded  by  singing  and  prayer.  Please  rise  and  join 
in  singing  what  has  been  often  called  the  battle  hymn  of 
the  Christian  Church,  "  Onward,  Christian  Soldiers," — 
the  three  hundred  and  seventieth  hymn. 

1  Onward,  Christian  soldiers, 

Marching  as  to  war. 
With  the  cross  of  Jesus 

Going  on  before  ! 
Christ,  the  Royal  Master, 

Leads  against  the  foe  ; 
Forward  into  battle, 

See,  His  banners  go. 

Onward,  Christian  soldiers,  etc. 

2  Like  a  mighty  army 

Moves  the  Church  of  God  ; 
Brothers,  we  are  treading 

Where  the  saints  have  trod  ; 
We  are  not  divided. 

All  one  body  we, 
One  in  hope  and  doctrine, 

One  in  charity. 
Onward,  etc. 


(36  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

3  Crowns  and  thrones  may  perish. 

Kingdoms  rise  and  wane. 
But  the  Church  of  Jesus 

Constant  will  remain ; 
Gates  of  hell  can  never 

'Gainst  that  Church  prevail ; 
We  have  Christ's  own  promise, 

And  that  cannot  fail. 
Onward,  etc. 

4  Onward,  then,  ye  people  ! 

Join  our  happy  throng  ! 
Blend  with  ours  your  voices 

In  the  triumph  song  ! 
Glory,  laud,  and  honor. 

Unto  Christ  the  King ; 
This  through  countless  ages 

Men  and  angels  sing. 
Onward,  etc. 

The  Rev.  B.  F.  Bittenger,  D.  D.,  stated  clerk  of  the 
presbytery  of  Washington  City,  then  led  in  the  follow- 
ing prayer : 

O  Lord,  Thou  art  our  God,  and  hast  been  our 
dwelling-place  in  all  generations.  Before  the  moun- 
tains were  brought  forth,  or  ever  Thou  hadst  formed 
the  earth  and  the  world,  even  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting Thou  art  God. 

Especially  on  this  anniversary  occasion,  appointed  to 
commemorate  the  organization  of  this  particular  church, 
do  we  bless  Thee  for  the  kindly  leadings  of  Thy  Prov- 
idence, and  cherish  with  grateful  remembrance  the 
faith,  the  zeal  and  the  consecrated  lives  of  those  who 
laid  its  foundations  and  erected  this  sanctuary  for  the 
worship  of  Thy  thrice  holy  name.  We  bless  Thee 
that,  from  the  beginning  of  its  history,  through  the  inter- 
vening years  to  the    present    time.  Thou    hast  greatl}'' 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  67 

prospered  it,  made  it  the  dwelling-place  of  Thy  pres- 
ence and  power,  favored  it  with  the  ministrations  of 
faithful  pastors  who  proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  of  sal- 
vation through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  edified  Thy  peo- 
ple in  their  holy  faith,  and  through  the  transforming 
power  of  Thy  Holy  Spirit  brought  many  into  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  gospel  and  made  them  meet  to  become 
partakers  of  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light. 

And  now,  we  beseech  Thee  that  the  rich  heritage  of 
Thy  favor  vouchsafed  to  this  church  in  the  past  may 
be  the  earnest  of  still  greater  favor  in  the  future — bless- 
ing it  and  making  it  a  blessing  to  all  enjoying  its  min- 
istrations. May  growing  numbers  unite  in  magnifying 
the  divinely  appointed  ordinances,  and  may  many  be 
born  into  the  kingdom  of  Thy  grace  of  such  as  shall  be 
saved. 

Bless  Thy  servant  its  pastor,  continue  to  crown  his 
labors  with  abundant  success,  and  richly  equip  him  for 
the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  his  sacred  office. 

We  pray  also  for  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  for  all  associated  with  him  in  authority.  Give  to 
them  that  wisdom  which  cometh  from  above  and  is 
profitable  to  direct,  so  that  we  may  lead  a  quiet  and 
peaceable  life  in  all  godliness  and  honest}'. 

Now,  unto  Him  that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abun- 
dantly above  all  that  we  ask  or  think,  according  to  the 
power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  be  glory  in  the 
Church  of  Christ  Jesus,  throughout  all  ages,  world  with- 
out end.     Amen. 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  then  said  : 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

Upon  an  occasion  like  this,  we  naturally  think  of 
our  country  and  of  its  history  during  the  past  century. 
We  have  had  many  histories  of  the  United  States  and 


68  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

of  its  governmental  operations,  but  we  have  had  one 
book  that  is  peculiarly  a  History  of  the  People  of  the 
United  States.  We  have  the  good  fortune  to  have 
with  us  this  evening  the  author  of  that  book.  He  has 
fairly  earned  the  title  of  being  the  historian  of  the 
American  people.  It  is  with  great  pleasure  that  I 
present  to  you  Dr.  John  Bach  McMaster,  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania,  who  will  address  us  upon — 

THE  AMERICAN  OF  1803. 

Doctor  McMaster  said  : 

We  have  assembled  this  evening  to  do  honor  to  the 
memory  of  the  men  and  women  who  organized  this 
church  a  century  ago.  Any  building,  any  institution, 
any  organization  which  numbers  a  hundred  years  of 
existence,  carries  our  minds  back  to  the  days  when  our 
republic  was  still  in  its  infancy.  When  the  first  pastor 
of  this  church  preached  his  first  sermon  to  the  little 
gathering  that  formed  the  first  congregation,  there  were 
not  in  all  our  land  as  many  inhabitants  as  now  dwell 
upon  the  soil  of  the  state  of  New  York  or  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania.  Nowhere  did  our  territory  touch  the 
gulf  of  Mexico,  nor  was  our  flag  anywhere  displayed 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  for  Louisiana,  though  just  pur- 
chased, had  not  yet  been  delivered  to  us,  nor  indeed  to 
France.  Spain  still  held  her  grip  on  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi. 

The  far  West,  the  frontier,  was  then  at  our  very  doors. 
Ohio,  just  admitted  into  the  Union,  was  the  only  state 
north  of  the  Ohio  river.  Detroit  was  a  stockaded  out- 
post of  civilization.  The  Indians  by  thousands  swarmed 
over  the  greater  part  of  Indiana  Territory,  which  then 
comprised  all  the  old  Northwest  save  Ohio.  This  city, 
but  lately  made  the  seat  of  Federal  government,  was  a 
village  in  the  woods.     The  south  wing  of  the  Capitol 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  69 

was  still  unfinished.  From  the  windows  of  the  Palace, 
as  the  Republicans  delighted  to  call  the  White  House, 
the  traveler  who  came  to  chat  with  the  President,  looked 
out  over  an  expanse  of  swamp,  meadow,  and  wood, 
pierced  in  every  direction  by  the  streets  of  a  city  of  the 
future.  Yet  this  capital  city,  magnificent  in  its  plan, 
but  scarcely  started,  almost  destitute  of  houses  and  of 
people,  was  a  true  symbol  of  our  country  in  1803,  and 
of  the  faith  of  our  countrymen  in  the  future. 

Were  we  to  attempt,  even  in  imagination,  to  go  back 
to  that  time,  see  our  countrymen  in  their  habits  as  they 
lived,  visit  their  cities  and  listen  in  their  coffee  houses 
to  the  discussion  of  the  social,  industrial,  and  political 
issues  of  the  day,  think  as  they  thought,  feel  as  they 
felt,  get  their  point  of  view,  we  should  be  compelled  (so 
great  is  the  change  wrought  in  a  hundred  years) — we 
should  be  compelled  to  turn  memory  almost  into  a 
blank  and  blot  out  recollection  of  our  times  and  cus- 
toms. 'Tis  easy  to  call  the  long  roll  of  inventions, 
discoveries,  improvements,  in  every  art  and  science, 
familiar  enough  to  us,  but  unknown  to  any  man  when 
this  church  was  founded.  'Tis  easy  enough  to  say  that 
no  man  at  that  time  had  ever  walked  down  a  gas-lighted 
street,  or  received  a  telegram,  or  spoken  through  a 
telephone,  or  ridden  in  an  elevator;  that  nobody  had 
ever  beheld  a  twenty-story  building  nor  seen  a  pane  of 
glass  ten  feet  square  ;  that  the  railroad,  and  the  steam- 
boat, and  the  steam-printing  press,  and  the  trolley, and  the 
ocean  steamship,  and  a  thousand  sorts  of  trades,  indus- 
tries, professions,  and  occupations,  which  aflTord  a  liveli- 
hood to  twenty  millions  of  people  in  1903,  have  all 
come  into  existence  since  1803.  But  no  such  statement 
affords  any  conception  of  the  mental  condition  of  the 
American  of  1803.  At  most  it  enables  us  to  form  a 
rude  idea  of  his  social  surroundings.     These  wonderful 


70  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

improvements  have  become  so  much  a  part  of  our  daily 
life  that  the  thoughts  we  think  and  the  things  we  do 
are  powerfully  influenced  by  them  without  our  conscious 
knowledge.  What  then  was  the  state  of  mind,  the 
point  of  view,  the  intellectual  condition  of  the  man  who 
never  in  his  life  had,  for  a  single  moment,  been  sub- 
jected to  the  influence  of  one  of  them  ?  This  cannot  be 
described,  cannot  even  be  fairly  apprehended.  Yet  we 
are  what  we  are,  because  they  were  what  they  were. 
In  any  study  of  passed-away  people,  what  it  really  con- 
cerns us  to  know  is,  were  they  aiding  or  hindering  the 
great  march  of  progress,  were  they  striding  forward  in 
the  van,  cutting  the  path,  sweeping  away  the  hindrances 
to  progress,  making  the  broad  highway,  or  were  they  far 
in  the  rear  with  their  feet  merely  marking  time. 

My  purpose  this  evening,  therefore,  is  not  to  attempt 
the  impossible,  but  to  pass  in  brief  review  the  attitude 
of  the  Americans  of  1803  towards  some  of  the  social, 
industrial  and  political  issues  of  his  own  time,  and  those 
in  particular  which  are  of  the  same  sort  as  trouble  us. 

A  century  ago  the  men  born  just  after  the  peace  were 
still  in  their  minority.  Control  of  affairs  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  generation  that  fought  the  Revolution  and 
established  the  United  States.  On  them  rested  the 
solemn  responsibility  of  so  founding  the  new  republic 
that  its  history  might  not  be  that  of  Greece  and  Rome 
retold,  of  so  starting  it  on  its  course  that,  no  matter  what 
might  happen  to  other  nations  of  the  world  in  time  to 
come,  our  form  of  "  government,  of  the  people,  by  the 
people,  for  the  people,"  should  never  perish  from  the 
earth. 

The  great  work  of  these  men  had  been  making  con- 
stitutions and  founding  commonwealths.  No  sooner 
had  the  war  for  independence  fairly  opened,  no  sooner 
had    Concord    and    Lexington    and   Bunker  Hill  been 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  71 

fought,  than  the  work  of  replacing  the  old  colonial 
charters  with  brand  new  written  constitutions  of  gov- 
ernment was  begun  in  eleven  of  the  thirteen  rebellious 
colonies.  No  sooner  had  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence been  issued  than  steps  were  taken  to  unite  the 
thirteen  in  a  league  by  another  written  instrument 
which  the  framers  called  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
When,  after  fair  and  full  trial,  this  ill-jointed,  crude, 
misshapen  piece  of  apprentice  work  fell  apart,  it  was 
replaced  by  that  masterpiece,  our  Federal  Constitution. 
When  our  countrymen  in  their  grand  march  across  a 
continent  were  preparing  to  enter  upon  the  congress 
lands  lately  ceded  by  the  states,  an  instrument  of  colo- 
nial government,  the  great  Ordinance  of  1787,  was 
framed  and  a  new  political  organization,  the  Territory, 
was  created. 

Thus  within  the  short  space  of  eleven  years  these 
men  had  framed  and  put  in  operation  fourteen  constitu- 
tions, and  by  1803  had  created  four  more.  In  our  study 
of  the  American  of  1803,  we  may  well  begin  by  asking 
ourselves  what  were  his  ideas  of  government  ?  What 
opinions  did  he  really  hold  touching  the  rights  of  man  ? 
To  whom  did  he  give  the  franchise  ?  What  was  his 
basis  of  representation  ?  What  powers  did  he  grant, 
what  restraints  did  he  impose  on  legislatures,  govern- 
ors, the  courts  ? 

The  destruction  of  one  form  of  government  based  on 
the  divine  right  of  kings  and  the  establishment  of  an- 
other deriving  its  authority  from  the  will  of  the  people, 
brought  out,  in  the  first  place  the  assertion  of  a  theory 
of  government,  and  then  the  application  of  this  theory 
to  existincr  conditions. 

In  theory  he  believed,  that  all  government  of  right 
originates  from  the  people,  is  founded  in  compact,  and 
is  instituted  solely  for  the  good  of  all ;  that  all  men  are 


72  THE    CENTENNIAL,    EXERCISES. 

born  equally  free  and  independent ;  that  in  forming  the 
social  compact  on  which  government  rests,  men  give 
up  certain  rights  and  retain  others,  among  which  are 
the  inalienable  rights  of  which  he  cannot  divest  himself, 
and  among  these  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness ;  that  all  governments  derive  their  just  pow- 
ers from  the  consent  of  the  governed  ;  and  that  when 
a  government  fails  to  accomplish  the  end  for  which  it  is 
established,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter,  amend, 
or  abolish  it. 

Such  being  the  theory,  it  would  at  first  thought  seem 
not  unreasonable  to  expect  that  he  should  have  applied  it ; 
and  that  the  early  state  constitutions  at  least  would  be  the 
embodiment  of  these  great  principles.  But  in  fact  they 
were  nothing  of  the  sort.  In  theory,  all  governments  de- 
rive their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed, 
yet  there  were  but  three  states  in  1803,  Vermont,  Ken- 
tucky and  Ohio,  where  the  governed  could  give  their 
consent.  Elsewhere  the  voter  must  own  a  specified 
number  of  acres  of  land,  or  land  worth  a  certain  sum, 
or  have  an  annual  income  of  so  many  dollars  from  a 
freehold  estate,  or  own  personal  property  worth  a  par- 
ticular number  of  dollars.  Virginia  limited  the  fran- 
chise to  such  of  her  citizens  as  owned  twenty-five  acres 
of  land  properly  planted,  and  with  a  house  thereon  at 
least  twelve  feet  square ;  or  were  possessed  of  fifty 
acres  of  wild  land,  or  of  a  freehold  or  estate  in  one  of 
the  towns  established  by  law  in  colonial  days.  The 
New  Jersey  constitution  gave  the  franchise  to  all  per- 
sons who  owned  real  estate  worth  fifty  pounds.  Con- 
struing the  word  "  persons  "  literally,  men,  women, 
aliens,  and  free  negroes  having  the  property  qualifica- 
tion voted  as  late  as  1807.  In  New  Hampshire  the 
voter  must  be  a  Protestant  as  well  as  a  taxpayer. 


Daniel  Bakkr,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  73 

These  restrictions  on  the  franchise  were  by  no  means 
trivial.  They  were  feh  in  every  state,  and  deprived 
thousands  of  the  governed  of  the  right  to  express  that 
consent  from  which  all  governments  derive  their  right 
powers.  In  New  York,  when  the  property  qualifica- 
tion for  voters  was  removed  in  1820,  fifty  thousand  citi- 
zens gained  the  right  to  vote.  It  was  estimated  that  in 
Virginia,  in  1829,  eighty-nine  thousand  men  were  de- 
prived of  the  right  to  vote,  by  property  qualifications. 

When  the  franchise  was  limited  to  owners  of  land, 
houses,  and  personal  property  of  considerable  value,  it 
is  not  surprising  that  seats  in  the  legislature,  on  the 
bench,  and  in  the  executive  chair  were  restricted  to  a 
still  smaller  class  of  people.  To  be  a  member  of  the 
lower  branch  of  the  legislature,  a  citizen  in  any  one  of 
nine  states  must  be  seized  of  a  freehold  of  from  one 
hundred  to  five  hundred  pounds  ;  to  be  a  member  of  the 
upper  house,  from  two  hundred  pounds  to  one  thousand 
pounds,  or,  in  the  Southern  States,  of  from  three  hun- 
dred to  five  hundred  acres.  Governors  must  be  pos- 
sessed of  freeholds  worth  five  hundred  or  one  thousand 
pounds,  and  in  one  state  of  five  thousand  pounds.  Nor 
was  a  property  qualification  always  enough.  Religious 
restrictions  were  often  added.  Everywhere  the  largest 
religious  liberty  was  guaranteed.  The  citizen  might 
hold  any  faith,  or  none.  But  unless  he  used  this  lib- 
erty in  such  wise  as  to  be  a  Protestant  in  some  states, 
or  a  Christian  in  others,  he  was  hopelessly  debarred 
from  ever  becoming  a  governor  or  a  legislator.  In 
Maryland,  so  late  as  1830,  no  Jew  could  practice  law, 
serve  on  a  jury,  sit  on  a  bench,  nor  hold  any  office  of 
profit  or  trust  under  the  state. 

What  was  true  of  the  voter  and  the  office-holder  was 
equally  true  of  the  system  of    representation.     In   no 


74  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

state  did  it  rest  on  population.  Throughout  New  Eng- 
land members  of  the  upper  house  were  chosen  in  dis- 
tricts or  counties,  and  were  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  taxable  polls,  or  the  amount  of  public  taxes  paid  in 
each.  In  New  York  the  senators  came  from  four  sen- 
atorial districts,  and  were  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  freeholders  owning  estates  above  one  hundred  pounds 
in  value.  The  Pennsylvania  senate  was  based  on  tax- 
able inhabitants.  Maryland  chose  her  senators  by  an 
electoral  college.  Elsewhere  the  county  was  the  basis 
of  representation  in  the  senate. 

For  the  lower  house  in  every  state,  representation 
depended  on  the  number  of  ratable  male  polls  over 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  or  taxable  inhabitants,  or 
qualified  electors,  or,  in  Ohio,  on  the  number  of  free 
male  inhabitants.  There,  as  elsewhere,  it  was  believed 
that  taxation  and  representation  went  hand  in  hand  ; 
there,  as  elsewhere,  women  were  taxed,  yet  it  was  not 
considered  necessary  that  even  taxable  women  should 
be  counted  in  apportioning  representation.  Nowhere 
did  population  determine  the  number  of  representa- 
tives. The  poor  man  counted  for  nothing.  He  was 
governed,  but  not  with  his  consent.  He  was  one  of 
the  people,  but  he  did  not  count  as  such  in  the  appor- 
tionment of  representation.  The  broad  doctrine  that 
government  derives  its  just  powers  from  the  consent  of 
the  governed  was  not  applied  in  all  its  fullness  by  the 
fathers.  The  most  they  were  ready  to  admit  was,  that 
all  government  derives  its  just  powers  from  the  consent 
of  the  taxpayers. 

To  accuse  our  countrymen  of  a  century  ago  of  delib- 
erate inconsistency,  of  boldly  proclaiming  religious  lib- 
erty, political  equality  of  all  men,  and  the  right  of  the 
people  to  rule,  and  then  establishing  state  governments 
in  which  class  distinctions  of  rich   and  poor,  sect  and 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  75 

creed,  were  carefully  observed,  would  be  the  height  of 
injustice.  To  have  broken  away  suddenly  from  lime- 
honored  customs  and  ancient  usages,  the  traditions  and 
prejudices  of  the  past,  and  applied  the  new  doctrines  in 
all  their  fullness  to  the  government  of  a  people  not  yet 
prepared  for  them,  would  have  been  an  act  of  folly 
worthy  of  anarchists.  These  men  were  not  anarchists. 
The  political  maxims  they  announced  were  high  ideals 
to  be  lived  up  to,  and  attained  in  a  decent  and  orderly 
manner,  and  so  in  time  they  were. 

This  distrust  of  the  plain  people,  this  disbelief  in  the 
ability  of  the  mass  to  rule,  was  further  displayed  in  the 
manner  of  choosing  rulers.  Governors  in  six  states 
were  still  chosen  by  the  legislatures,  and  so  in  many 
instances  were  the  judges,  sheriff's,  coroners,  constables 
and  justices  of  the  peace,  and  militia  officers  down  to 
the  grade  of  captain.  Nor  was  the  governor  when 
elected  possessed  of  a  tittle  of  the  power  now  exercised 
by  his  successor.  No  extensive  patronage,  no  well  paid 
offices,  were  at  his  disposal.  In  twelve  states  he  had 
no  veto.  In  Ohio,  whose  constitution  had  just  been 
made,  and  for  that  day  was  extremely  democratic,  the 
governor  signed  no  bill,  made  no  nominations,  exer- 
cised no  veto,  appointed  but  one  man  to  office,  save 
when  a  vacancy  occurred  during  a  recess  of  the  legis- 
lature, and  bore  no  part  in  law  making. 

To  the  American  of  1803  the  legislature  was  the  safe 
depository  of  power,  the  great  bulwark  of  popular  lib- 
erty and  the  rights  of  man.  To  the  legislature,  there- 
fore, were  given  the  largest  powers,  in  the  broadest 
terms.  The  prohibitions,  the  special  instruction,  the 
administrative  details  which  form  so  important  a  part  of 
our  modern  state  constitutions,  were  unknown  a  century 
ago.  A  long  and  bitter  experience  has  brought  us  to  a 
different   point   of  view.     To-day,  the   legislature    is   a 


76  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

necessary  evil  to  be  checked,  restrained,  bound  down. 
Our  forefathers  thought  two  sessions  of  the  legislature 
each  year  not  too  much.  To-day,  in  thirty-nine  states, 
one  session  in  two  years  is  quite  enough.  Our  hope 
now  lies  in  the  executive  and  the  courts.  By  our  fore- 
fathers the  judge  was  as  much  an  object  of  distrust 
as  the  governor. 

Of  all  remnants  of  monarchy  the  life  tenure  of  judges 
was  most  offensive.  Why,  it  was  often  asked,  should 
this  be?  Why  should  we  change  our  rulers  every  year 
or  two  and  not  our  judges?  If  it  be  dangerous  to  lib- 
erty to  entrust  men  with  long-continued  power  to  make 
laws,  is  it  not  equally  dangerous  to  liberty  to  give  them 
life-long  power  to  interpret  laws.  Is  there  any  attribute 
of  the  judicial  office  which  makes  the  judge  immune  to 
the  evils  and  temptations  which  beset  the  law-maker  or 
the  governor.  While  all  else  in  the  state  is  transient, 
he  is  permanent.  President,  congresses,  governors, 
legislatures,  come  into  office,  serve  their  terms  and  go 
back  to  private  life,  while  he  sits  undisturbed  on  the 
bench.  Is  this  republican  government?  He  is  a  highly 
privileged  man,  a  member  of  a  caste,  an  aristocracy.  Is 
not  this  repugnant  to  the  great  principle  of  responsibil- 
ity to  the  people  which  lies  at  the  base  of  representative 
government? 

More  serious  still  to  the  men  of  1803  was  the  assump- 
tion by  the  courts  of  the  right  to  declare  a  law  uncon- 
stitutional and  void. 

That  a  people  who  looked  up  to  their  legislatures  as 
the  true  interpreters  of  their  will,  who  would  not  sub- 
ject them  to  even  the  mild  restraint  of  a  limited  veto  by 
the  governors,  should  quietly  permit  the  courts  to  con- 
trol legislation  by  setting  aside  laws,  was  not  to  be  ex- 
pected. In  our  system  of  government,  it  was  argued, 
the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  branches  are  sep- 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  77 

arate  and  co-ordinate.  To  the  legislature  has  been 
assigned  the  duty  of  making  laws  ;  to  the  executive  the 
duty  of  seeing  that  they  be  faithfully  executed,  and  to 
the  judges  the  business  of  interpreting  the  laws  between 
man  and  man,  in  short,  of  carrying  out  the  intention  of 
the  legislature.  Do  they  execute  the  intent  of  the  legis- 
lature when  they  refuse  to  enforce  a  law  because,  in 
their  opinion,  it  is  contrary  to  the  constitution?  Is  not 
such  an  act  equivalent  to  a  repeal,  and  if  they  may 
repeal  a  law,  are  they  not  superior  to  the  law-making 
branch  of  government?  Are  not  judges  sworn  to  obey 
the  constitution  and  the  laws?  Can  they  be  said  to  obey 
a  law  when  they  declare  it  to  be  null  and  of  no  force? 
The  answer  was,  legislators  as  well  as  judges  are  sworn 
to  obey  the  constitutions  of  their  states.  If  they  enact  a 
law  which  is  at  variance  with  their  constitution,  must 
the  people  submit?  If  so,  then  is  the  offending  legis- 
lature a  law  unto  itself  and  free  to  do  whatsoever  it 
pleases.  But  the  people  are  not  bound  to  submit,  and 
their  remedy  is  to  be  found  in  the  refusal  of  the  court 
to  apply  the  law.  Our  countrymen,  however,  were 
slow  in  coming  to  this  view. 

Thus  when  the  mayor's  court  in  New  York,  in  1784, 
held  a  trespass  act  to  be  null  and  void,  the  offending 
aldermen  were  summoned  by  the  citizens  to  attend  a 
public  meeting  and  explain  their  conduct.  When  a 
Rhode  Island  court  in  1786  decided  it  had  no  jurisdic- 
tion in  a  case  made  cognizable  by  law,  the  general  as- 
sembly summoned  the  five  judges  to  attend  and  assign 
the  grounds  and  reasons  for  their  judgment,  heard  their 
excuses,  and  the  next  year  put  others  in  their  places. 
"When  in  1808  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio  pronounced 
certain  parts  of  an  act  unconstitutional  because  they 
conflicted  with  the  Federal  Constitution,  the  judges  were 
impeached,  tried,  and  acquitted,  but  not  before  the  house 


78  THE    CENTENNIAI.    EXERCISES. 

of  representatives  had  voted  that  judges  did  not  have 
authority  to  set  aside  an  act  of  the  legislature  by  declar- 
ing it  unconstitutional,  null  and  void.  Georgia  in  1816 
and  Kentucky  in  1824  made  similar  declarations,  and 
the  century  was  well  advanced  before  this  power  of  the 
courts  was  generally  admitted. 

Judged  by  his  acts,  the  American  of  1803  still  be- 
lieved that  government  should  derive  its  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  rich  and  well-to-do ;  that  voters 
should  be  owners  of  land  or  freehold  estate  ;  that  holders 
of  office  should  be  men  of  real  substance, Christians  or 
Protestants,  or  at  least  profess  belief  in  the  existence  of 
a  God  ;  that  property  qualifications  should  increase  with 
the  importance  of  the  office  ;  and  that  the  strong  arm  of 
government  should  be  the  legislature,  not  the  executive 
nor  the  courts. 

Such  being  his  ideas  of  the  political,  what  were  his 
ideas  of  the  social  rights  of  man? 

According  to  the  political  doctrines  fashionable  at 
that  day,  all  men  were  not  only  created  politically 
equal,  but  were  endowed  by  their  maker  with  certain 
inalienable  rights  of  which  they  could  not  strip  then>- 
selves,  nor  be  divested  by  others,  and  among  these  were 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  If  this  were 
true  it  followed  that  life  was  not  to  be  taken,  nor  lib- 
erty restrained,  save  when  required  by  the  well-being  of 
the  state.  Did  our  forefathers  pay  heed  to  this  doctrine? 

The  early  settlers  from  England  brought  with  them 
and  planted  in  the  New  World  such  ideas  of  the  treat- 
ment of  crime  and  the  criminal  as  were  current  in  the 
mother  country.  Their  early  penal  codes  were  not 
their  own  handiwork  but  were  fashioned  after  statutes, 
orders,  and  customs  of  the  England  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  were  marked  all  through  with  the  barbar- 
ity, cruelty,  and  inhumanity  of  the  age.     The  constitu- 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  79 

tions  of  six  states  did  indeed  declare  that  cruel  and 
unusual  punishments  should  not  be  inflicted.  But  the 
usual  punishments  were  cruel  enough  from  our  point  of 
view.  Thus  in  Massachusetts,  Connecticut  and  Rhode 
Island  in  1789  ten,  and  in  Pennsylvania  twenty,  crimes, 
and  on  second  conviction  any  crime  save  larceny,  were 
punishable  with  death.  In  Virginia,  and  afterwards  in 
Kentucky,  to  swear  falsely,  to  destroy  a  will,  obtain 
money  or  goods  on  false  pretenses,  steal  a  horse,  a  writ 
or  record  of  a  court,  or  commit  robbery  on  the  highway 
were  but  a  few  of  twenty-seven  offenses  for  which  a 
man  or  woman  might  suffer  death.  In  New  York  six- 
teen crimes  were  capital. 

For  such  misdeeds  as  did  not  merit  death  on  first 
conviction  the  common  punishments  were  branding, 
whipping,  cropping  the  ears,  standing  on  the  pillory, 
sitting  in  the  stocks,  or  ducking.  In  Maryland  each 
county  was  required  to  have  an  assortment  of  branding 
irons  and  use  them  unsparingly.  S  on  either  cheek 
meant  seditious  libeller ;  T  on  the  left  hand  meant 
thief.  The  man  with  an  R  on  the  shoulder  was  a  vag- 
abond or  rogue  ;  with  an  F  on  the  cheek  a  coiner  twice 
convicted.  New  Hampshire  branded  her  burglars  with 
the  letter  B  on  the  right  hand  for  the  first  offense,  on 
the  left  hand  for  a  second  offense,  on  the  forehead  if 
the  crime  were  done  on  the  Lord's  day.  Connecticut 
put  an  F  on  the  forehead  of  the  forger  of  a  deed  ;  the 
letter  I  on  the  villain  who  sold  arms  to  the  Indians,  and 
cut  off"  the  ears  of  counterfeiters.  In  Delaware  the 
blasphemer  was  flogged,  stood  upon  the  pillory,  and 
branded  with  the  letter  B  on  the  forehead.  Virginia 
ordained  that  deceitful  bakers,  dishonest  cooks,  cheat- 
ing fishermen,  careless  fish  dressers,  should  lose  their 
ears. 


80  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Publicity,  in  the  opinions  of  the  fathers,  was  a  great 
corrective  and  preventive  of  crime.  In  Pennsylvania, 
therefore,  the  robber  and  the  thief,  whether  man  or 
woman,  after  receiving  at  the  whipping-post  thirty-one 
lashes  well  laid  on,  was  condemned  to  wear,  in  plain 
view,  on  the  left  sleeve  of  the  outer  garment^  between 
the  shoulder  and  the  elbow,  a  Roman  T.  The  letter 
must  be  four  inches  each  way  and  one  inch  wide,  must 
be  of  red,  blue,  or  yellow  cloth,  must  be  worn  from 
sunrise  to  sunset  and  for  a  period  of  six  months.  If 
found  without  the  letter  the  penalty  for  the  first  offense 
was  twenty-one  lashes,  and  for  the  second  thirty-nine 
lashes  and  a  T  branded  on  the  forehead. 

Every  pauper  who  received  any  aid  from  any  county, 
city,  or  place,  as  also  his  wife  and  children,  must  wear 
on  the  sleeve  of  the  outer  garment,  in  plain  view,  a 
large  P  of  red  or  blue  cloth  and  the  first  letter  of  place 
to  which  he  belonged. 

The  whipping-post  and  the  stocks  were  conspicuous 
in  every  city  and  large  town,  and  the  ducking  stock  was 
still  occasionally  used.  In  Pennsylvania  counterfeiters 
of  the  colonial  money  were  to  be  flogged  thirty-one 
lashes,  stood  on  the  pillory,  and  have  their  ears  cut  off". 
Counterfeiters  of  the  province  brands  were  to  stand  for 
two  hours  on  the  pillory  on  a  market  day.  Any  one  who 
raised  the  denomination  of  a  bill  of  credit  was  to  have 
thirty-one  lashes,  was  to  be  put  on  the  pillory  and  have 
his  ears  cut  off  and  nailed  to  the  post. 

That  punishments  of  these  sorts  were  enforced  down 
to  and  well  into  the  nineteenth  century,  there  is  abundant 
evidence.  In  1787,  in  Boston,  five  thieves  were  sen- 
tenced to  be  flogged,  two  more  set  on  the  gallows,  and 
a  counterfeiter  on  the  pillory.  In  1789  eleven  were 
ordered  by  the  court  to  be  flogged  in  front  of  the  state 
house.     In  1803  two  ofTenders  stood  on  the  pillory  for 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  81 

one  hour  on  two  consecutive  days  and  were  well  pelted. 
So  late  as  1817  a  sailor  was  bound  to  iron  rings  on  the 
outside  of  the  wall  of  a  Philadelphia  prison  and  publicly 
flogged.  In  1811  the  supreme  court  of  Georgia  sen- 
tenced a  woman  to  be  ducked  in  the  Ocanee.  In  1819 
in  Georgia  and  in  1824  in  Philadelphia,  common  scolds 
were  ordered  to  the  ducking  stool ;  but  the  sentence 
was  not  executed.  Later  yet  Judge  Cranch  in  this  city 
sentenced  a  woman  to  be  ducked  in  the  Potomac ;  but 
ducking  was  by  that  time  obsolete  and  she  was  fined 
instead. 

To  the  credit  of  our  forefathers  it  must  be  said  that 
the  leven  of  the  rights  of  man  was  at  work,  and  that, 
when  the  nineteenth  century  opened,  many  of  these 
barbarous  forms  of  punishment  were  swept  away. 
Manhood  was  clothed  with  a  new  dignity  and  even  the 
criminal  was  admitted  to  have  rights  his  more  fortunate 
brother  was  bound  to  respect.  The  stocks,  the  pillory, 
the  whipping-post,  the  branding-iron,  and  the  shears 
ceased  to  be  instruments  of  punishment  in  many  states. 
Pennsylvania  limited  the  death  penalty  to  murder  in 
the  first  degree  ;  New  York  abolished  it  for  fourteen 
offenses  and  retained  it  for  two.  In  Connecticut,  burg- 
lary, arson,  forgery,  and  house-stealing  were  not  capital 
crimes  after  1790. 

The  one  offender  whose  misery  excited  scant  sym- 
pathy was  the  poor  debtor.  In  every  state  and  territory, 
and  in  this  District  in  1800,  the  poor  debtor,  whether 
man  or  woman,  could  be  seized  by  the  creditor  and 
thrown  into  jail,  there  to  remain  till  the  debts,  jail  fees, 
and  costs  were  paid  in  full.  When  the  amount  involved 
was  large  the  debtor  might  obtain  a  stay  of  proceed- 
ings, or  by  giving  up  all  his  estate,  he  might  escape 
imprisonment,  or  be  required  to  live  within  the  limits  of 
the  jail.     But  no  such    privileges    were    accorded  the 


82  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

wretch  who  owed  a  shilling  or  a  sixpence,  or  a  cent. 
The  debt  proven,  to  jail  he  went.  Once  behind  the 
bars  his  lot  was  harder  than  that  of  the  lowest  criminal. 
Thieves,  murderers,  felons  of  all  sorts,  were  fed  and 
cared  for  at  the  cost  of  the  state,  but  for  the  luckless 
debtor  no  such  provision  was  made.  The  food  he  ate, 
the  clothes  he  wore,  were  provided  b}^  his  friends,  the 
public,  or  by  "  The  Society  for  Alleviating  the  Misery  of 
Public  Prisons,"  "  The  Humane  Society,"  or  some  like 
organization.  The  room  in  which  he  was  confined  with 
scores  of  hardened  offenders  was  utterly  without  fur- 
niture of  any  sort.  In  it  were  neither  chairs,  tables, 
cots  nor  so  much  as  a  bench.  He  sat  on  the  floor,  ate 
oft'  the  floor,  and  at  night  lay  down  to  sleep  on  the  floor 
without  a  blanket  to  cover  him.  Against  this  violation 
of  the  right  of  man  to  liberty,  society  at  last  rebelled, 
and  in  1792  a  change  for  the  better  was  ordered. 

"  Whereas,"  says  the  law,  "  many  persons  confined 
in  the  prison,  called  the  debtors  apartment,  in  the  city 
of  Philadelphia,  are  so  poor  as  to  be  unable  to  procure 
food  for  their  sustenance,  or  fuel  or  clothing  in  the 
winter  season,  and  it  is  inconsistent  with  humanity  to 
suffer  them  to  want  the  common  necessaries  of  life, 
the  inspector  must  provide  fuel  and  blankets  for  such 
debtors  as  by  reason  of  their  poverty  could  not  get 
them,  and  allow  each  seven  cents  a  day  for  food."  For 
twenty  years  thereafter  the  community  seems  to  have 
thought  this  was  all  humanity  required,  and  no  further 
change  was  made  in  the  law  till  1814.  In  1804  the 
paupers  in  the  Baltimore  almshouse  issued  a  card  to 
"  The  Humane  Housekeepers,"  thanking  them  for  the 
relief  afforded  by  a  supply  of  "  rags  for  our  sores  "  and 
urging  them  to  continue  the  good  work  as  no  other 
means  of  getting  rags  was  known  to  them. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  83 

From  such  documentary  evidence  as  may  now  be 
had  it  appears  that  in  the  large  cities  many  hundred 
debtors  were  sent  to  jail  each  year.  The  keeper  of  the 
debtor's  prison  in  New  York  certified,  so  late  as  1816, 
that  during  the  year  one  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
eighty-four  debtors  were  committed  to  his  care ;  that 
one  thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  were  impris- 
oned for  debts  under  fifty  dollars  ;  that  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  owed  less  than  twenty-five  dollars,  and 
that  every  one  of  them  would  have  perished  but  for  the 
kindness  of  the  Humane  Society,  which  supported  them 
with  food  and  blankets ;  and  that  he  himself  had  more 
than  once  been  forced  to  buy  fuel  with  his  own  money 
lest  they  should  freeze  to  death. 

To  misery  such  as  this  the  community  and  the  law- 
makers were  callous,  and  the  second  decade  of  the 
century  was  closing  before  the  old  states  began,  one  by 
one,  to  exempt  women  from  imprisonment  for  debt  of 
any  amount,  and  men  for  debts  under  fifteen  dollars. 
It  was,  indeed,  true  that  all  men  have  an  inalienable 
right  to  liberty.  But  the  petty  debtor  who  had  no 
estate,  no  property  to  surrender,  did  not  enjoy  that 
right  in  every  state  in  our  Union  prior  to  1850. 

To  us,  as  we  look  back  to  these  times,  the  social, 
industrial,  and  financial  problems,  compared  with  ours, 
seem  simple  enough.  The  net  annual  revenue  of  the 
government  in  1803  was  eleven  million  dollars,  and  the 
yearly  outlay  four  million  dollars.  During  the  four 
years  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  first  term  of  office,  1801-1805, 
the  cost  of  government,  civil  list,  foreign  intercourse, 
army,  navjs  Indians,  and  interest  on  a  public  debt,  was 
but  thirty  million  dollars,  and  sixteen  million  dollars  of 
this  was  four  years'  interest  on  the  public  debt,  includ- 
ing one  vear's  interest  on  the  Louisiana  Purchase  bonds. 


84  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

The  public  debt  of  our  country  in  1803  was  but  seventy- 
seven  million  dollars,  and  was  being  paid  so  rapidly 
that  thirty-four  million  dollars  was  discharged  while 
Jefferson  was  president.  The  federal  government 
issued  no  money  save  gold  and  silver  coin.  Stocks  and 
bonds  were  almost  unknown.  The  only  stocks  in  exist- 
ence were  three  kinds  issued  by  the  government,  repre- 
senting the  national  debt,  the  stock  of  the  first  bank  of 
the  United  States,  the  stocks  of  thirty-six  banks  char- 
tered by  the  different  states,  and  the  stocks  of  a  few 
companies  for  building  turnpikes  and  canals. 

No  race  problem  troubled  the  American  of  that  day. 
To  the  immigrant  he  gave  no  concern.  There  were  no 
Chinamen  to  be  excluded,  nor  was  the  country  required 
to  assimilate  seven  hundred  thousand  foreigners  each 
year.  The  few  thousands  that  arrived  annually  were 
chiefly  "  free-willers  "  and  "  redemptioners  "  from  Eng- 
land, Ireland,  and  the  Rhine  country.  Labor  unions 
were  local  affairs  confined  to  journeymen  type-setters, 
cordwainers,  tailors,  and  to  the  particular  cities  in 
which  they  lived,  and  organized  primarily  for  benevo- 
lent purposes — to  help  the  sick,  bury  the  dead,  comfort 
the  widow  and  the  orphan.  Lockouts  and  strikes  were 
small  affairs,  and  dealt  with  by  the  mayor's  courts  as 
conspiracies. 

A  working  day  was  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  with  an 
hour  for  breakfast  and  another  for  dinner.  From  such 
sources  of  information  as  are  now  accessible — diaries, 
pay-rolls,  estimates  of  the  cost  of  internal  improvements, 
advertisements  in  the  newspapers — it  appears  that,  for 
a  long  working  day  in  summer  the  unskilled  laborer 
when  hired  by  the  day  was  paid  a  dollar  and  one  third, 
and  proportionally  less  in  winter,  when  the  hours  be- 
tween sunrise  and  sunset  were  fewer ;  that  hiring  by 
the  month  was  the  common  practice,  and  that  for  such 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  85 

labor  the  wages  were  lowest  on  the  seaboard  and  high- 
est on  the  frontier.  Near  the  New  England  coast, 
laborers  when  fed  and  lodged  were  paid  seven  dollars 
a  month  in  winter  and  ten  in  summer.  Throughout 
the  farming  regions  of  Pennsylvania,  farm  hands  when 
fed  and  housed  received  eight  dollars  per  month  of 
twenty-six  working  days.  In  central  New  York,  four- 
teen dollars  a  month  when  the  laborer  bought  his  own 
food.  Boatmen  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  were 
given  one  dollar  per  day.  When  the  road  from  Gene- 
see to  Buffalo  was  in  course  of  construction,  laborers 
were  so  scarce  that  to  secure  thirty  men  an  offer  was 
made  of  food,  lodging,  whiskey  every  day,  and  twelve 
dollars  per  month.  If  statements  made  in  1803  may  be 
relied  on,  wages  had  risen  nearly  three  hundred  per 
cent,  in  twenty  years.  At  the  close  of  the  Revolution 
farm  hands  in  New  England  were  rarely  paid  more 
than  eighteen  dollars  a  year,  and  sailors  eight  dollars  a 
month. 

In  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  the  free-wilier  and 
the  redemptioner  still  formed  the  chief  source  of  labor 
supply.  Speaking  generally,  the  free-willers  or  in- 
dented servants  were  men,  women,  and  children  who, 
imable  to  pay  their  passage  to  our  shores,  signed  a  con- 
tract or  indenture  before  leaving  the  Old  World.  This 
indenture  bound  the  owner  or  master  of  the  ship  to 
transport  them  to  America,  and  bound  the  emigrant 
after  arrival  in  America  to  serve  the  owner,  master,  or 
their  assigns  for  a  certain  number  of  years.  On  reach- 
ing port  the  owner  or  master  whose  servants  they  then 
became,  sold  them  to  the  highest  bidders. 

The  redemptioner,  on  the  other  hand,  was  an  immi- 
grant who  signed  no  indenture  before  embarking,  but 
agreed  with  the  shipping  merchant  that  after  reaching 
America  he  should  be  given  a  certain  time  in  which  to 


86  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

find  somebody  to  redeem  him  by  paying  the  passage 
money,  or  freight,  as  it  was  called.  Should  he  fail  to 
find  a  redeemer  within  the  specified  time,  the  ship  cap- 
tain was  at  liberty  to  sell  him  to  the  highest  bidder,  in 
which  case  the  redemptioner  became  an  indented  ser- 
vant and  was  subject  to  the  laws  governing  such  cases. 

When  a  ship  laden  with  from  one  hundred  to  three 
hundred  such  persons  arrived,  we  will  say  at  Philadel- 
phia, the  emigrants,  arranged  in  a  long  line,  were 
marched  at  once  to  a  magistrate  and  forced  to  take  an 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  king,  or  later  to  the  United 
States,  and  then  marched  back  to  the  ship  which  an- 
chored in  midstream. 

An  advertisement  would  then  be  inserted  from  day  to 
day  in  some  city  newspaper,  and  the  sale  would  begin. 
In  a  Baltimore  newspaper  for  1804  are  many  such  no- 
tices as  these  : 

"GERMAN    REDEMPTIONERS. 

"  On  board  the  ship  Weser  a  number  of  healthy  peo- 
ple, among  whom  are  shoemakers,  coopers,  and  good 
house  servants,  who  wish  to  engage  with  masters  for 
their  passage.  For  terms  apply  to  the  Captain  on 
board." 

"  REDEMPTIONERS. 

"  There  still  remain  on  board  the  ship  Aurora  from 
Amsterdam  about  eighteen  passengers,  amongst  whom 
are — Servant  gii'ls,  gardeners,  butchers,  masons,  sugar 
bakers,  one  shoemaker,  one  silversmith,  one  leather 
dresser,  one  tobacconist,  one  pastry  cook,  and  some  a 
little  acquainted  with  waiting  on  families,  as  well  as 
farming  and  tending  horses.  They  are  all  in  good 
health." 

When  at  last  the  emigrant  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find 
a  purchaser,  he  was  taken  before  the  mayor  or  recorder 
of  Philadelphia,  or  in  later  times  a  justice  of  the  peace, 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  87 

signed  a  contract,  and  became  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  a 
slave,  and  in  both  the  civil  and  criminal  code  was 
classed  with  negro  slaves  and  Indians.  None  could 
marry  without  consent  of  the  master  or  mistress,  under 
penalty  of  an  addition  of  one  year's  service  to  the  time 
set  forth  in  the  indenture.  They  were  worked  hard, 
were  dressed  in  the  cast-off  clothes  of  their  owners,  and 
might  be  flogged  as  often  as  the  master  or  mistress 
thought  necessary.  If  they  ran  away,  at  least  two  days 
might  be  added  to  their  time  of  service  for  each  day 
they  were  absent.  Father,  mother,  and  children  could 
be  sold  to  different  buyers.  Such  remnants  of  cargoes 
as  could  not  find  purchasers  within  the  time  specified, 
were  bought  in  lots  of  fifty  or  more  by  speculators 
known  as  "  soul  drivers,"  who  drove  them  through  the 
country  from  farm  to  farm  like  a  herd  of  cattle,  and 
sold  them  for  what  they  would  bring. 

Redemptioners  of  this  sort  were  generally  unskilled, 
were  worth  from  thirty  to  forty  dollars,  and  bound  to 
service  for  five  years.  They  were  worked  hard,  were 
poorly  fed,  and  were  well  treated  or  ill  treated  accord- 
ing to  the  temper  of  their  owner.  That  the  more  enter- 
prising, the  daring,  and  the  reckless  ones  should  seize 
the  first  opportunity  to  run  away  was  only  to  be  ex- 
pected. 

No  problem  of  our  day  seems  so  difficult  of  solution 
as  municipal  government.  None  in  1803  was  more 
simple.  The  great  cities  of  that  time  were  but  over- 
grown towns,  and  all  the  machinery  of  town  govern- 
ment was  still  in  use.  Disbelief  in  the  ability  of  the 
people  to  choose  their  rulers  wisely  was  as  apparent  in 
city  as  state  government.  There,  too,  the  favorite  doc- 
trine of  checks  and  balances  was  applied  in  all  its  vigor. 
No  government  was  good  unless  the  legislative  branch 


88  THE    CENTENNIAIv    EXERCISES. 

consisted  of  two  distinct  bodies,  that  each  might  be  a 
check  on  the  other.  If  each  was  chosen  at  the  same 
time,  in  the  same  manner,  by  the  same  body  of  voters, 
the}^  might  differ  in  size  and  in  terms  of  service,  but  they 
■would  be  animated  by  the  same  feeling,  have  the  same 
point  of  view,  and  might  as  well  form  one  body,  sit  in 
the  same  room,  and  vote  on  all  questions  at  the  same 
time. 

In  Baltimore  this  idea  was  carried  to  an  extreme. 
There  the  people  elected  one  branch  of  the  city  council ; 
but  who  should  be  chief  magistrate  and  who  should  sit 
in  the  second  branch  of  the  council  was  determined  by 
electoral  colleges.  Every  other  year  the  voters  in  each 
ward  assembled  and  chose,  viva  voce,  two  citizens  to 
serve,  one  as  an  elector  of  the  mayor  and  the  other  as 
an  elector  of  members  of  the  select  council  ;  and  by  the 
two  colleges  so  formed  the  mayor  and  eight  council- 
men  were  duly  elected. 

The  president  appointed  the  mayor  of  this  city.  Free, 
white,  tax-paying  males  of  full  age  elected  twelve  men 
to  form  the  council,  and  when  these  twelve  assembled 
they  elected  five  of  their  number  to  serve  as  the  upper 
branch. 

Over  Philadelphia,  the  chief  city  of  the  country,  pre- 
sided a  mayor,  a  recorder,  and  fifteen  aldermen,  and 
the  select  and  common  councils.  The  people  elected 
members  of  the  council.  But  the  governor  of  the  state 
of  Pennsylvania  appointed  the  recorder  and  the  fif- 
teen aldermen,  to  hold  office  during  good  behavior. 
Councils  each  year  elected  one  of  the  aldermen  to  serve 
as  mayor. 

In  New  York  were  a  mayor  and  recorder  appointed 
by  the  Council  of  Appointment,  a  board  composed  of 
the    governor    and    four    state    senators.     The    people 


John  N.  Campbell,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  89 

elected  the  members  of  the  council.  Annually  in  Phil- 
adelphia the  voters  in  each  ward  elected  two  persons  fit 
to  be  constables,  one  of  whom  the  mayor  appointed  to 
office. 

In  both  cities  the  constables  kept  the  peace  and  en- 
forced the  ordinances  by  day,  as  did  the  city  watch  by 
night.  Any  citizen  in  Philadelphia  might  be  summoned 
by  the  constable  of  his  ward  to  serve  on  the  night 
watch.  On  refusal,  he  must  pay  a  shilling  fine.  The 
part  played  by  the  citizen  in  municipal  affairs  was  far 
greater  than  at  present.  Each  householder  must  twice 
a  week,  from  April  to  December,  sweep  the  pavement 
before  his  dwelling,  from  the  house  line  to  the  middle 
of  the  street,  and  gather  the  dust  into  heaps,  to  be  re- 
moved by  the  city  cartman.  From  December  to  April 
no  such  service  was  required,  and  the  sole  scavengers 
were  tne  hogs,  which  the  law  permitted  to  roam  at 
large.  There  was,  indeed,  a  rude  sort  of  fire  depart- 
ment, consisting  of  the  chief  engineer,  his  assistants, 
and  the  fire  wardens.  But  each  householder  must  keep 
behind  his  front  door  a  canvas  bag  and  one  or  more 
leathern  fire  buckets.  With  these,  at  the  cry  of  fire, 
the  man  of  the  house  must  run  to  the  burning  building. 
Should  there  be  no  man  of  the  house,  the  bag  and  the 
buckets  must  be  put  out  on  the  sidewalk,  to  be  carried 
off  by  some  passer-by.  The  citizens  dragged  the  engine 
to  the  fire,  worked  the  pumps,  stood  in  line  and  passed 
the  buckets  from  the  nearest  wells  to  the  engine,  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  bags  saved  what  property  they  could. 

Though  their  civic  duties  were  many,  their  burdens 
were  light.  Taxes  were  few  and  the  rates  low,  and  when 
money  was  needed  for  public  improvements,  resort  was 
had  to  a  lottery.  This  institution,  long  since  branded 
as  a  public  evil,  proscribed,  and  finally  driven  from  our 


90  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

land,  was,  in  1803,  an  innocent,  moral,  and  often  used 
means  of  raising  money  which  could  not  be  had  by  sub- 
scription, and  for  which  the  people  would  not  submit  to 
be  taxed.  In  1802-3,  the  legislature  of  Maryland  char- 
tered lotteries  to  aid  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Elizabeth- 
town,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  the  Baptist  Church 
and  the  German  Reformed  Church  at  Baltimore,  to  buy 
a  fire  engine  for  Middletown,  improve  the  streets  of 
Elizabethtown,  and  help  Charlotte  Hall  School.  In 
1803-4,  lotteries  were  authorized  to  improve  the  market 
at  Baltimore,  pave  the  streets  of  Annapolis,  buy  a  fire 
engine  and  pumps  for  Easton,  improve  the  Baltimore 
Free  School,  build  a  road,  construct  a  bridge,  and  help 
sundr}^  churches  at  Shrewsbury,  Tarrytown,  Woods- 
bury,  Fredericktown  and  Baltimore. 

Pennsylvania  since  1798  had  authorized  a  lottery  to 
raise  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  a  stone  bridge  over  a 
creek  near  Philadelphia,  twenty  thousand  dollars  for 
paving  the  streets  of  Lancaster,  five  thousand  dollars 
for  a  schoolhouse  at  New  Hanover,  twelve  thousand 
dollars  for  a  bridge  over  the  Delaware  at  Easton,  be- 
sides aiding  in  like  manner  numbers  of  churches, 
schools,  canals,  turnpike  and  toll-bridge  companies. 
In  1803  the  legislature  considered  the  expediency  of 
creating  a  lottery  to  raise  two  hundred  thousand  dollars 
for  the  benefit  of  the  state  treasury. 

Scarce  a  college  or  university  of  our  day  whose  exist- 
ence goes  back  to  the  Revolution  but  added  to  its  funds 
or  enlarged  its  library  with  the  profits  of  a  lottery. 
Churches  erected  their  spires,  bought  their  bells,  built 
their  parsonages  with  proceeds  of  lotteries.  Wharves 
were  constructed,  grammar  schools  and  academies 
founded,  city  halls  repaired,  public  improvements  of 
ever}^  sort  were  accomplished  with  mone}^  derived  from 
the  sale  of  lottery  tickets.     Not  till  the  population  had 


Stephen  B.  Balche,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  91 

SO  increased  in  state  and  city,  not  till  propert}^  had  so 
grown  in  quantity  and  value  that  a  small  tax-rate  could 
yield  a  large  return,  not  till  the  lottery  had  ceased  to 
be  a  public  necessity  and  had  become  a  source  of  pri- 
vate gain  did  our  fathers  begin  to  regard  it  as  an  evil  to 
be  suppressed. 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  pass  in  review  every  phase 
of  life  a  centur}^  ago.  Surely  enough  has  been  said  to 
make  plain  the  fact  that  our  ideas  of  the  political, 
social,  and  industrial  rights  of  man  are  utterly  unlike 
those  of  our  forefathers.  Could  our  positions  be  re- 
versed, could  the  men  of  1803  come  back  and  be  with 
us  this  evening,  they  would  be  astonished  beyond  meas- 
ure at  the  wreck  which  time  has  made  of  their  practices, 
and  at  the  marvelous  fulfillment  of  their  theories.  The 
safeguards  which  they  set  up  against  the  abuse  of  lib- 
erty were  long  since  thrown  down.  Manhood,  not 
houses,  lands,  income,  wealth,  is  now  the  basis  of  rep- 
resentation. Scores  of  executives,  great  and  small, 
once  appointed,  are  now  elected.  The  fraudulent,  not 
the  honest,  debtor  is  now  imprisoned.  The  slave,  the 
bond  servant,  the  redemptioner,  the  freewiller,  are  un- 
known to  us.  The  hours  of  the  working  day  have  been 
reduced  one  third.  The  workingman  has  his  lien  law, 
and  his  children  the  free  common  school.  The  street 
gamin  no  longer  pelts  the  thief  in  the  stock.  The  smell 
of  burnt  flesh  no  longer  defiles  our  prisons.  No  test 
oath  is  exacted  of  our  chosen  rulers. 

Despite  this  progress  there  are  some  relics  of  the  past 
still  with  us.  So  long  as  there  is  a  part  of  the  commu- 
nity taxed  and  not  enfranchised,  just  so  long  is  the  old 
doctrine  of  no  taxation  without  representation  violated. 
So  long  as  there  is  one  law-maker  not  elected  by  the 
direct  vote  of  the  people,  just  so  long  is  government  of 
the  people  by  the  people  unattained.     Our  forefathers 


92  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

were  much  concerned  with  the  political  rights  of  man. 
With  us  the  problem  of  the  hour  is  the  full  determina- 
tion of  his  industrial  rights.  That  in  time  to  come  this 
new  issue  will  be  settled  as  justly,  as  fully,  as  happily 
as  the  old,  is  absolutely  certain,  and  the  man  who  doubts 
it  misreads  the  lessons  of  the  past,  is  blind  to  the  signs 
of  the  times,  has  no  faith  in  the  principles  of  our  gov- 
ernment, and  is  not  fit  to  be  called  an  American. 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  then  said  : 

We  have  listened  to  a  most  interesting  and  instructive 
address,  and  thank  the  learned  speaker  for  it.  In  this 
I  do  not  doubt  I  express  your  sentiments. 

This  occasion,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  is  honored  by 
the  presence  of  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  United 
States.  We  are  grateful  to  him  for  coming.  One  of 
the  interesting  incidents  in  the  history  of  this  church  is 
that  for  several  years  immediately  prior  to  his  death 
Abraham  Lincoln  regularly  attended  religious  services 
in  this  church,  and  held  a  pew.  The  identical  pew 
occupied  by  him  has  been  preserved.  It  is  the  one  in 
which  a  worthy  successor  of  the  Martyr  President  now 
sits.  (Applause.)  We  will  not  trouble  our  honored 
President  to  come  to  this  platform  ;  but  if,  from  the  pew 
he  occupies,  he  will  say  a  few  words  to  the  people  here 
assembled,  it  will  give  us  all  very  great  pleasure. 

President  Roosevelt  arose  in  his  place  in  the  Lincoln 
pew  and  responded  : 

Mr.  Justice: 

Let  me  first  express  the  appreciation  that  all  of  us 
feel  to  Professor  McMasters  for  his  exceedingly  inter- 
esting address ;  and  the  address  showed  why  he  can 
justly  claim  to  be  the  historian  of  the    People  of    the 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  93 

United  States,  for  what  he  has  told  us  was  what  the 
people  did,  not  merely  what  the  outward  forms  and 
observances  were,  but  what  the  life  of  the  people,  was  a 
century  ago.  And,  Mr.  Justice,  I  think  that  the  recital 
has  left  in  the  minds  of  all  of  us  the  feeling  that  while 
we  revere  our  ancestors,  we  are  not  wholly  discontented 
that  we  live  in  the  present  day. 

To  each  generation  comes  its  allotted  task,  and  no 
generation  is  to  be  excused  for  failure  to  perform  that 
task.  No  generation  can  claim  as  an  excuse  for  such 
failure  the  fact  that  it  is  not  guilty  of  the  sins  of  the 
preceding  generation.  It  was  a  surprise  to  me,  I  sup- 
pose it  was  a  surprise  to  many  of  us,  to  realize  that  a 
hundred  years  ago,  in  the  days  of  the  fathers,  the  lot 
of  the  poor  debtor  was  so  hard.  It  seems  incredible  to 
us  now  that  there  should  have  been  such  callousness  to 
the  undeserved  human  suffering  then.  I  hope  sincerely 
that  a  century  hence  it  will  seem  equally  incredible  to 
the  American  of  that  generation  that  there  should  be 
corruption  and  venality  in  public  life.  (Applause.) 
We  can  divide,  and  must  divide,  on  party  lines  as 
regards  certain  questions ;  as  regards  the  deepest,  the 
vital  questions,  we  cannot  afford  to  divide ;  and  I 
have  the  right  to  challenge  the  best  effort  of  every 
American  worthy  of  the  name  to  putting  down  by  every 
means  in  his  power  corruption  in  private  life,  and  above 
all  corruption  in  public  life.  (Applause.)  And,  remem- 
ber, you,  the  people  of  this  government  by  the  people, 
that  while  the  public  servant,  the  legislator,  the  execu- 
tive officer,  the  judge,  are  not  to  be  excused  if  they  fall 
short  of  their  duty,  yet  that  their  doing  their  duty  can- 
not avail  unless  you  do  yours.  In  the  last  resort  we 
have  to  depend  upon  the  jury  drawn  from  the  people  to 
convict  the  scoundrel  who   has   tainted  our  public  life  ; 


94  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

and  unless  that  jury  does  its  duty,  unless  it  is  backed 
by  the  public  sentiment  of  the  people,  all  the  work  of 
legislator,  of  executive  officer,  of  judicial  officer,  are  for 
naught.     (Applause.) 

Mr.  Justice,  a  man  would  be  a  poor  citizen  of  this 
country  if  he  could  sit  in  Abraham  Lincoln's  pew  and 
not  feel  the  solemn  sense  of  the  associations  borne  in 
upon  him  ;  and  I  wish  to  thank  the  people  of  this 
church  for  that  reverence  for  the  historic  past,  for  the 
sense  of  historic  continuity,  which  has  made  them  keep 
this  pew  unchanged.  I  hope  it  will  remain  unchanged 
in  this  church  as  long  as  our  country  endures.  We 
have  not  too  many  monuments  of  the  past.  Let  us  keep 
every  little  bit  of  association  with  that  which  is  highest 
and  best  of  the  past,  as  a  reminder  to  us  equally  of  what 
we  owe  to  those  who  have  gone  before,  and  of  how  we 
should  show  our  appreciation.  This  evening  I  sit  in 
this  pew  of  Abraham  Lincoln's,  together  with  Abra- 
ham Lincoln's  private  secretary,  who,  for  my  good 
fortune,  now  serves  as  secretary  of  state  in  my  cabi- 
net.    (Applause.) 

If  ever  there  lived  a  president  who  during  his  term  of 
service  needed  all  of  the  consolation  and  of  the  strength 
that  he  could  draw  from  the  unseen  powers  above  him 
it  was  Abraham  Lincoln — sad,  patient,  mighty  Lin- 
coln— who  worked  and  suffered  for  the  people,  and 
when  he  had  lived  for  them  to  good  end  gave  his  life 
at  the  end.  If  ever  there  was  a  man  who  practically 
applied  what  was  taught  in  our  churches,  it  was  Abra- 
ham Lincoln.  The  other  day  I  was  re-reading,  on  the 
suggestion  of  Mr.  Hay,  a  little  speech  not  often  quoted, 
of  his,  yet  which  seems  to  me  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able that  he  ever  made  ;  delivered  right  after  his  reelec- 
tion, I  think,  to  a  body  of  serenaders  who  had   come. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  95 

if  my  memory  is  correct,  from  Baltimore  or  Mar3dand, 
and  called  for  an  address  from  him  from  the  White 
House.  It  is  extraordinary  to  read  that  speech,  and 
to  realize  that  the  man  who  made  it  had  just  come 
successfully  through  a  great  political  contest  in  which 
he  felt  that  so  much  was  at  stake  for  the  nation  that  he 
had  no  time  to  think  whether  or  not  anything  was  at 
stake  for  himself.  The  speech  is  devoid  of  the  least 
shade  of  bitterness.  There  is  not  a  word  of  unseemly 
triumph  over  those  who  have  been  defeated.  There  is 
not  a  word  of  glorification  of  himself,  or  in  any  im- 
proper sense  of  his  party.  There  is  an  earnest  appeal, 
now  that  the  election  is  over,  now  that  the  civic  strife 
has  been  completed,  for  all  decent  men  who  love  the 
country  to  join  together  in  service  to  the  country ;  and 
in  the  speech  he  uses  a  thoroughly  Lincoln-like  phrase 
when  he  says,  "  I  have  not  willingly  planted  a  thorn 
in  the  breast  of  any  man,"  thus  trying  to  make  clear 
that  he  has  nothing  to  say  against  any  opponent,  no  bit- 
terness toward  any  opponent ;  that  all  he  wishes  is  that 
those  who  opposed  him  should  join  with  those  who  fa- 
vored him  in  working  toward  a  common  end. 

It  would  be  trite  to  say  anything  about  Lincoln,  and 
yet  I  am  going  to  point  to  one  thing  :  In  reading  his 
works  and  addresses,  one  is  struck  by  the  fact  that  as 
he  went  higher  and  higher  all  personal  bitterness 
seemed  to  die  out  of  him.  In  the  Lincoln-Douglass 
debates  one  can  still  catch,  now  and  then,  a  note  of 
personal  antagonism  ;  the  man  was  in  the  arena,  and 
as  the  blows  were  given  and  taken,  you  can  see  that 
now  and  then  he  had  a  feeling  against  his  antagonist. 
When  he  became  president,  and  faced  the  crisis  that  he 
had  to  face,  from  that  time  on  I  do  not  think  that  you 
can  find  an  expression,  a  speech  of  Lincoln's,  a  word 
of   Lincoln's,  written   or  spoken,  in  which  bitterness  is 


96  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

shown  to  any  man.  His  devotion  to  the  cause  was  so 
great  that  he  neither  could  nor  would  have  feeling 
against  any  individual. 

In  closing,  Mr.  Justice,  let  me  say,  in  thanking  you 
of  this  church,  the  church  so  closely  kindred  to  my 
own  Dutch  Reformed  Church,  in  thanking  you  for  ask- 
ing me  here,  let  me  say  how  peculiarly  glad  I  am  that 
in  the  chair  sits  one  man,  a  justice  of  the  supreme  court, 
and  that  I  could  be  escorted  here  by  another  man  who 
has  just  severed  his  connection  from  one  of  the  highest 
places  in  the  United  States  army,  both  of  whom,  you, 
Justice  Harlan,  you,  General  Breckinridge,  had  enjoyed 
the  wonderful  privilege  of  proving  by  their  deeds  the 
faith  that  was  in  them  in  the  days  that  tried  men's 
souls  ;  both  of  whom  did  their  part  in  holding  up  the 
hands  of  mighty  Lincoln,  and  both  of  whom  were  born 
in  the  state  of  Lincoln's  birth.      (Applause.) 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  said  : 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

No  higher  praise  could  have  been  bestowed  upon  a 
statesman  of  the  Revolutionary  period  than  to  say  of 
him  that  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country.  No  higher  praise  can  be  bestowed  upon  a 
public  man  of  this  day  than  to  say  of  him  that  he  en- 
joyed the  confidence  of  the  Savior  of  his  Country.  But 
that  can  be  said  of  one  now  in  high  position,  and  enjoy- 
ing in  a  marked  degree  the  respect  of  the  American 
people.  I  allude  to  the  distinguished  secretary  of  state, 
who  was  the  private  secretary  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  and 
who  is  with  us  this  evening.  No  one  now  living  was 
closer  to  Lincoln  than  he  was,  or  knew  more  of  his 
innermost  thoughts.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  attended  reli- 
gious services  here,  Mr.  Hay  often  accompanied  him 
and  sat  at  his  side.  Will  Secretary  Hay  give  this  audi- 
ence the  pleasure  of  a  few  words  from  him? 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  97 

Mr.  Secretary  Hay  arose  in  his  place  in  the  Lincoln 
pew,  and  responded  : 

Mr.  President,  Mr.  Justice,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

I  could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  detain  you,  at  this 
hour,  even  for  a  moment,  by  any  words  of  mine.  But 
perhaps  you  may  consider  that  you  have  time  to  listen 
to  one  or  two  phrases  uttered  in  this  city  many  years 
ago  by  that  great  man  to  whom  Mr.  Justice  Harlan  has 
just  alluded.  Some  of  you,  I  am  sure,  share  with  me 
the  memories  to  which  this  occasion  and  place  give 
rise,  of  the  days  when  I  have  sat  in  this  church  with 
that  illustrious  patriot,  whose  fame  even  now  has  turned 
to  something  remote  and  legendary.  But  whatever  is 
remembered  or  whatever  lost,  we  ought  never  to  forget 
that  Abraham  Lincoln,  one  of  the  mightiest  masters  of 
statecraft  that  history  has  known,  was  also  one  of  the 
most  devoted  and  faithful  servants  of  Almighty  God 
who  has  ever  sat  in  the  high  places  of  the  world.  From 
that  dim  and  chilly  dawn,  when,  standing  on  a  rail- 
way platform  at  Springfield,  half  veiled  by  falling 
snowflakes  from  the  crowd  of  friends  and  neighbors 
who  had  gathered  to  wish  him  iGodspeed  on  his  mo- 
mentous journey,  he  acknowledged  his  dependence  on 
God,  and  asked  for  their  prayers,  to  that  sorrowful  yet 
triumphant  hour  when  he  went  to  his  account,  he  re- 
peated over  and  over  in  every  form  of  speech,  his  faith 
and  trust  in  that  Almighty  Power  who  rules  the  fate  of 
men  and  nations.  To  a  committee  of  Presbyterians 
who  visited  him  in  1863,  he  said:  "It  has  been  my 
happiness  to  receive  testimonies  of  a  similar  nature  from, 
I  believe,  all  denominations  of  Christians.  This  to  me 
is  most  gratifying,  because  from  the  beginning  I  saw 
that  the  issues  of  our  great  struggle  depended  on  the 
Divine  interposition   and  favor."     A  year  later  he  said, 


98  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

among  other  things,  to  a  committee  of  the  General  Con- 
ference of  the  Methodist  Church  :  "  God  bless  the  Meth- 
odist Church  ;  bless  all  the  churches,  and  blessed  be 
God,  who  in  this  our  great  trial  giveth  us  the  churches." 
I  will  not  multiply  extracts  from  those  hundreds  of 
public  utterances,  nor  will  I  quote  the  sublime  words  of 
the  second  inaugural,  which  sound  like  a  new  chapter 
of  Hebrew  prophecy,  as  these  might  be  classed  among 
the  official  speeches  of  rulers  which  recognize  the  power 
for  good  of  the  ordinary  relations  between  religion  and 
wise  government.  But  I  will  ask  you,  and  this  shall 
be  my  last  word,  to  listen  to  a  few  sentences  in  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  admits  us  into  the  most  secret  recesses  of 
his  soul.  It  is  a  meditation  written  in  September,  1862. 
Perplexed  and  afflicted  beyond  the  power  of  human 
help,  by  the  disasters  of  war,  the  wrangling  of  parties, 
and  the  inexorable  and  constraining  logic  of  his  own 
mind,  he  shut  out  the  world  one  day,  and  tried  to  put 
into  form  his  double  sense  of  responsibility  to  human 
duty  and  Divine  power ;  and  this  was  the  result.  It 
shows,  as  has  been  said  in  another  place,  the  awful  sin- 
cerity of  a  perfectly  honest  soul  trying  to  bring  itself 
into  closer  communion  with  its  Maker. 

"  The  will  of  God  prevails.  In  great  contests  each 
party  claims  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  will  of  God. 
Both  may  be  and  one  must  be  wrong.  God  cannot  be 
for  and  against  the  same  thing  at  the  same  time.  In 
the  present  civil  war  it  is  quite  possible  that  God's  pur- 
pose is  something  different  from  the  purpose  of  either 
party ;  and  yet  the  human  instrumentalities,  working 
just  as  they  do,  are  of  the  best  adaptation  to  effect  His 
purpose.  I  am  almost  ready  to  say  that  this  is  prob- 
ably true  ;  that  God  wills  this  contest,  and  wills  that  it 
shall  not  end  yet.     By  His   mere  great  power  on  the 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  99 

minds  of  the  now  contestants,  He  could  have  either 
saved  or  destroyed  the  Union  without  a  human  contest. 
Yet  the  contest  began.  And  having  begun,  He  could 
give  the  final  victory  to  either  side  any  day.  Yet  the 
contest  proceeds." 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  said  : 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

We  have  come  to  the  last  stage  of  those  interesting 
exercises.  This  is  a  most  remarkable  assemblage. 
We  have  here  the  chief  magistrate  of  our  country,  and 
members  of  his  cabinet ;  the  acting  vice-president  of 
the  United  States,  senators  and  representatives  in  the 
congress  of  the  United  States  ;  members  of  the  highest 
judicial  tribunal  in  our  land — the  supreme  court  of  the 
United  States  ;  the  judiciary  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia ;  the  commissioners  of  the  District ;  the  lieutenant- 
general  of  the  army;  above  all,  the  people,  the  source 
of  all  power  in  this  republic.  No  such  assemblage 
should  conclude  its  sessions  without  an  opportunity 
being  given  to  sing  one  of  our  national  anthems.  I 
invite  you  to  rise,  and  before  the  benediction  is  pro- 
nounced, to  join  with  the  choir  in  singing,  "  My 
Country,  'tis  of  thee." 

The  congregation  sang  : 

My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing  ; 
Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  pilgrims'  pride. 
From  every  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  rino; ! 


100  THE    CENTENNIAI.    EXERCISES. 

My  native  country,  thee, 
Land  of  the  noble  free. 

Thy  name  I  love  ; 
I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills ; 
My  heart  with  rapture  thrills 

Like  that  above. 

Let  music  swell  the  breeze. 
And  ring  from  all  the  trees 

Sweet  freedom's  song ; 
Let  mortal  tongues  awake. 
Let  all  that  breathe  partake, 
Let  rocks  their  silence  break, 

The  sound  prolong. 

Our  fathers'  God,  to  Thee, 
Author  of  liberty. 

To  Thee  we  sing : 
Long  may  our  land  be  bright 
With  freedom's  holy  light ; 
Protect  us  by  Thy  might, 

Great  God,  our  King. 

The  benediction  by  Rev.  David  Wills,  D.  D.,  LL.  D., 
was  then  pronounced. 


TUESDAY. 

An  Evening  of  Doctrine.* 
at  seven  forty-five  in  the   evening. 

Hon.  James  Wilson,  secretary  of  the  department  of 
agriculture,  presided. 

The  service  began  with  the  musical  rendition  of  Ej're's 
Credo,  "  I  Believe  in  God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only  Son, 
our  Lord." 

Secretary  Wilson  in  taking  the  chair  said  : 

The  holding  of  a  hundredth  year  anniversary  of  your 
work  and  the  work  of  your  fathers  here  is  a  great  occa- 
sion for  the  New  York  Avenue  Church.  It  is  a  matter 
of  great  interest  not  only  to  yourselves  but  to  every  one 
in  the  city.  It  is  a  marked  occasion.  It  is  being  spoken 
about  everywhere.  You  and  your  fathers  have  held  the 
banner  aloft  here  for  a  hundred  years,  and  Presbyte- 
rianism  is  just  the  same  now  that  it  was  a  hundred 
years  ago.  There  have  been  some  little  modifications 
made  for  the  benefit  of  outsiders  in  our  Confessions. 
We  do  not  need  to  have  any  made  for  us  ;  we  know  all 
about  it. 

Dr.  Radcliffe  told  us  beautifully  last  Sabbath  about 
the  kind  of  people  who  established  the  church  that 
was  the  forerunner  a  way  back  a  hundred  years  ago — 
those  old  Scotch  people.  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  how 
much  charity  those  people  had  for  the  outside  world? 
Have  you  ever  heard  a  prayer  that  was  common  among 
those  people?  It  may  not  have  been  made  lately  in  your 

*  Steuographically  reported  by  Mr.  Tlieo.  F.  Sliuey. 


102  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

hearing.  "  Lord,  mak'  us  recht,  for  Ye  ken  we  are 
unco  hard  to  turn."  So  Presbyterianism  is  just  the 
same  now  that  it  will  be  a  hundred  years  hence.  It  is 
not  only  an  affair  of  the  heart  with  us  but  it  has  the 
approval  of  the  head  besides,  and  those  who  want  to 
turn  us  from  the  faith  will  have  their  hands  full.  We 
are  not  that  kind  of  people. 

I  have  been,  off  and  on,  worshipping  with  you  for 
thirty  years.  I  was  sent  by  an  Iowa  constituency  to 
congress  at  that  time,  and  naturally  came  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church.  Where  else  would  I  go?  I  would  not 
have  felt  at  home  anywhere  else.  An  impression  was 
made  on  my  mind  the  first  Sabbath  I  came  here.  The 
pastor  was  Dr.  Mitchell,  I  think.  He  told  you,  or  your 
fathers,  probably  both,  about  distress  in  Kansas.  It  was 
a  rough  cold  winter.  He  wanted  to  send  a  whole  car- 
load of  coal  to  those  people,  ordered  by  telegram  from 
the  nearest  place.  I  was  a  little  anxious  to  know  just 
what  kind  of  people  you  were  at  that  time,  and  made 
inquiry  the  next  day.  I  went  out  of  my  way  to  make  it. 
•'  Yes,"  one  of  the  elders  said,  "  we  sent  a  whole  train- 
load,  ordered  by  telegraph,  to  those  people."  I  judged 
your  faith  by  your  works  in  those  days. 

The  prayer  was  offered  by  Rev,  W.  C.  Alexander, 
D.  D.,  of  West  Presbyterian  Church,  Georgetown,  the 
oldest  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  two  hundred   and   twenty-fifth  hymn  was  sung : 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 

Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 

Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

When  the  woes  of  life  o'ertake  me, 

Hopes  deceive,  and  fears  annoy, 
Never  shall  the  cross  forsake  me  : 

Lo  !  it  glows  with  peace  and  joy. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  103 

When  the  sun  of  bliss  is  beaming 

Light  and  love  upon  my  way, 
From  the  cross  the  radiance  streaming 

Adds  more  lustre  to  the  day. 

Bane  and  blessing,  pain  and  pleasure. 

By  the  cross  are  sanctified  ; 
Peace  is  there  that  knows  no  measure, 

Joys  that  through  all  time  abide. 

In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory. 

Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 

Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

Mr.  Secretary  Wilson  then  said  : 

It  is  my  privilege  to  introduce  to  you  to-night  one  of 
the  great  hearts  of  Presbyterianism,  who  comes  to  us 
from  one  of  the  citadels  of  our  faith,  Rev.  Francis  L. 
Patton,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  president  of  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Princeton,  N.  J.,  who  will  address  us 
upon — 

A  CENTURY  OF  PRESBYTERIAN  DOCTRINE. 

President  Patton  said  : 
Mr.  Secreta7'y,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

I  consider  it  a  great  privilege  and  a  high  honor  to 
be  allowed  to  participate  in  these  centennial  services. 
I  offer  to  you  my  cordial  congratulations  on  the  success 
attending  these  services,  and  my  sincere  congratulations 
on  the  splendid  past  of  this  church,  on  its  prosperous 
present  and  its  bright  hopes  of  the  future. 

I  am  here  because  my  friend,  my  old  friend  of  sem- 
inar}'  days,  the  pastor  of  this  church,  asked  me  to  come, 
and  I  could  not  say  no.     I  am  here  also  because  I  did 


104  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

not  wish  to  say  no,  for  I  have  a  very  pleasant  recollec- 
tion of  the  fact  that  during  the  greater  part  of  one  winter 
it  was  my  privilege  to  serve  this  church  in  the  supply  of 
its  pulpit,  and  I  like  to  flatter  myself  with  the  thought 
that  it  is  quite  as  much  to  the  friendly  feeling  of  some 
of  my  old-time  acquaintances  as  it  is  to  any  fitness  in 
me  for  the  task  assigned  me  that  I  am  indebted  for  the 
invitation  to  be  here  to-night. 

Yet  I  stand  here  with  a  painful  sense  of  hesitation. 
Last  night  you  were  here  in  the  favoring  presence  of  the 
President  and  the  high  officers  of  government  to  listen 
to  a  most  interesting  discourse  sketching  the  salient  fea- 
tures of  the  century,  by  a  master  of  American  history. 
To-night  you  are  pleased  to  come  here — I  tell  you  now, 
w^iatever  expectations  you  have  formed  to  the  contrar}^ 
notwithstanding — to  hear  from  me  a  very  plain  and 
simple  talk  on  what  I  fear  is  a  very  unattractive  theme. 
Now,  I  shall  treat  this  theme  as  it  is  enunciated  in  the 
program  with  that  degree  of  liberty  which  all  public 
speakers  are  allowed.  I  shall  treat  it  in  a  certain  sense 
as  a  point  of  departure  and  shall  not  say  very  much 
about  it. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  at  the  opening  of  the 
century  found  itself  fairly  well  established  in  the  faith. 
The  great  Deistic  controversy  had  been  cleared  up. 
The  Church  of  England  had  made  a  splendid  contribution 
to  the  literature  of  apologetics  in  the  defence  of  revealed 
religion,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church,  with  the  other 
churches,  was  pretty  strongly  entrenched  in  its  belief 
that  the  Bible  is  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice, 
and  that  its  Confession  of  Faith  was  the  best  inter- 
pretation and  explication  of  the  Bible.  Of  course  it 
had  controversies  in  those  days.  Such  was  its  mas- 
culine character  it  could  not  get  along  without  contro- 
versies.    It  fouirht  those  without  when  thev  stood  in  its 


David  X.  Junkin,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  105 

way,  and  when  they  were  not  near  it  fought  its  own 
members,  but  light  it  must.  It  had  controversies  with 
the  Arminians,  with  the  Baptists,  with  the  Unitarians, 
with  the  Universalists.  But  this  is  to  be  remembered, 
that  in  each  and  every  case  the  controversy  was  fought 
out  to  a  finish,  on  the  basis  of  belief  in  the  plenary 
inspiration  and  authority  of  the  Scriptures  on  both 
sides.  If  a  man  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ  it  was 
because  he  did  not  believe  the  Bible  taught  it.  If  he 
denied  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punishment  it  was 
because  he  did  not  believe  the  Bible  taught  it.  What- 
ever he  believed  or  disbelieved  he  believed  or  disbe- 
lieved because  he  believed  that  the  Bible  taught  or  did 
not  teach  in  the  particular  case. 

Now,  that  is  a  very  important  point  to  remember, 
because  it  shows  how  completely  the  controversy  has 
shifted.  Then  there  were  controversies,  as  I  said, 
among  themselves.  There  was  a  great  body  of  theo- 
logians— there  were  Edwards,  and  Hopkins,  and 
Emmons,  of  an  earlier  day  ;  there  were  Taylor,  and 
Park,  and  Hodge,  and  Breckenridge,  of  later  years. 
There  were  modifications  of  the  Calvinistic  theology 
running  all  through  New  England.  The  modifications 
were  slight  perhaps,  but  slight  is  one  of  those  relative 
terms  which  we  sometimes  employ.  Slight  they  are  to 
some  of  us  perhaps,  but  they  did  not  think  so  then. 
These  modifications  to  some  extent  came  into  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  began 
to  debate  them  within  its  own  borders.  Questions  in 
regard  to  the  extent  of  the  atonement,  questions  in 
regard  to  the  incarnation,  questions  in  regard  to  natural 
and  moral  ability,  were  debated.  Then  there  came  the 
schism  and  the  separation,  with  old  school  and  new 
school  churches   standing  side  by   side  in  every  city, 


106  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

town  and  village  of  the  country.  Then  came  the 
reunion  of  thirty-three  years  ago.  Then,  after  the 
reunion  it  occurred  to  some  that  inasmuch  as  the  division 
occurred,  possibly  over  some  of  the  phrases  of  the  Con- 
fession of  Faith  that  were  not  as  felicitously  expressed 
as  they  might  have  been,  it  might  be  well  to  make  the 
phrases  a  little  more  felicitous.  So  there  came  the 
movement  for  a  revision,  which  after  various  fortunes, 
or  misfortunes,  resulted  in  the  completed  revision 
adopted  by  the  church. 

That  is  the  history  in  brief  of  Presbyterian  doctrine 
so  far  as  I  wish  to  allude  to  it.  It  was  a  controversial 
era.  And  you  must  say  this  for  those  men,  that  right  or 
wrong  they  were  in  dead  earnest.  There  are  two  rea- 
sons for  being  uncontroversial.  One  is  in  having 
nothing  to  fight  about,  and  the  other  is  in  not  caring 
one  way  or  the  other.  Peace  is  not  necessarily  a  sign 
of  the  best  condition.  The  old  men  who  fought  out  these 
battles  on  what  you  think  were  very  small  issues  (and 
small  they  may  have  been,  I  am  not  raising  that  ques- 
tion) were  men  of  intense  convictions.  They  were 
men  of  moral  earnestness.  They  were  men  who  be- 
lieved. 

Of  course  this  is  not  an  era  of  controversy.  It  is 
what  we  call  an  era  of  research  and  investigation  and 
induction.  Nothing  moves  us  to  resentment.  It  is  as 
if  a  man  should  impugn  your  motives  or  challenge  your 
veracity,  and  instead  of  blushing  in  the  face  or  feeling 
resentful,  or  doing  what  some  people  would  regard  as 
quite  justifiable,  you  should  simply  ask  him  to  a  con- 
ference in  regard  to  the  facts  concerning  your  psycho- 
logical slate.  That  is  the  temper  of  this  day  in  the- 
ology. 

Now,  we,  I  say,  are  not  living  in  a  time  when  this 
matter  interests  many  people  very  much.     Some  people 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  107 

think  that  this  old  theology  is  passing  away,  and  I  think 
so  far  as  that  remark  implies  that  it  is  losing  its  hold  on 
a  great  many  people,  it  is  a  correct  remark. 

You  know  what  that  old  Christianity  was.  I  mean 
that  old-fashioned  missionary  Christianity,  prayer-meet- 
ing Christianity,  monthly  concert  for  missions  Chris- 
tianity, the  old  Christianity  of  the  shorter  Catechism 
that  some  of  us  were  brought  up  on.  You  know  that 
it  is  not  the  same  kind  of  Christianity  that  we  are 
getting  a  great  deal  of  at  the  present  time.  You  know 
what  it  was.  It  posited  the  great  truths  of  natural  relig- 
ion— God,  freedom,  immortality.  It  posited  the  great 
truths  of  revealed  religion — sin,  incarnation,  atonement, 
regeneration.     That  was  the  old  Christianity. 

I  am  not  going  to  talk  to  you  about  that  old  Chris- 
tianity, but  I  am  going  to  talk  to  you  to-night  about  the 
new  Christianity,  for  there  are  a  great  many  people 
who  no  longer  believe  in  that  old  Christianity,  but  who 
have  adopted  the  new. 

What  are  the  signs  of  the  new  Christianity?  What 
are  the  symptoms  of  this  disease  which  so  many  have 
without  knowing  it,  which  is  doing  its  dire  work  in  their 
religious  constitution,  until  sometimes  they  are  in  a  state 
of  hopeless  illness  before  they  are  aware  of  it?  I  will 
tell  you  some  of  them.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  a 
marked  indifference  to  doctrine,  and  a  conspicuous 
silence  respecting  it.  You  hear  a  great  deal  about  vice, 
but  nobody  says  much  about  sin.  You  hear  a  great 
deal  about  immorality,  but  nobod^^alks  about  the  atone- 
ment, and  these  doctrines  get  the  go-by.  There  is 
a  marked  attention  to  the  social  side  of  Christianity. 
There  are  reasons  for  this.  In  the  first  place,  the  new 
psychology,  which  some  people  know  a  great  deal 
about,  which  most  people  know  something  about,  and 
which  all    people  like  to   think  that  they  know  a  little 


108  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

about,  has  shown  us  that  there  is  such  a  close  relation- 
ship between  the  individual  and  the  organism  of  which 
he  forms  a  part  that  it  is  impossible  for  us  to  do  justice 
to  the  individual  without  taking  cognizance  of  the  indi- 
vidual's environment. 

Then  there  are  the  pathological  conditions  of  society 
which  confront  us  on  every  hand,  so  that  the  question 
as  to  what  to  do  with  the  poverty,  the  disease,  and  the 
crime,  which  come  as  direct  consequences  of  the  con- 
gested life  of  our  great  cties,  is  looming  up  as  a  great 
problem  with  which  the  pulpit  has  to  deal. 

Then  there  are  the  great  questions  of  citizenship, 
which  emerge  all  the  time,  and  the  pulpit  feels  that  it 
has  to  deal  with  them,  and  very  properly  so.  There- 
fore, to  a  very  large  extent,  the  ministrations  of  the 
pulpit  are  becoming  the  ministrations  of  a  man  who  is 
trying  to  do  what  he  can  to  brighten  the  life  and 
sweeten  the  homes  of  the  people  to  whom  he  ministers  ; 
with  this  effect,  that  the  regeneration  of  society  is  tak- 
ing the  place  of  the  regeneration  of  the  individual,  the 
salvation  of  the  organism  in  the  life  that  now  is,  is 
superseding  the  problem  as  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul 
and  the  life  which  is  to  come.  And  what  is  called 
Christian  sociology  is  being  substituted  for  Christ  Jesus 
and  Him  crucified. 

Now,  I  am  not  complaining  that  these  secular  themes 
find  place  in  the  pulpit,  for  they  ought  to  find  place 
there.  It  is  the  business  of  the  Gospel  in  its  application 
to  practical  problems  to  show  how  the  Gospel  is  the 
solution  of  all  these  problems.  But  it  is  one  thing  to 
Christianize  society,  and  a  very  different  thing  to  social- 
ize Christianity,  and  the  latter  is  what  we  are  doing. 

Then  there  is  the  tendency  to  look  at  the  ethical  side 
of  religion.  We  are  preached  to  out  of  the  Gospels  and 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  We  are  told  to  be  good,  to 
be  kind,  to  be  forgiving,  to  clothe  the  naked,  and  to  live 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  109 

the  life  of  service.  Even  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible  are 
looked  at  from  their  ethical  side,  and  we  are  told  that 
there  is  no  such  thing  as  an  atonement  in  the  sense  you 
generally  mean,  but  that  the  atonement  is  simply  a 
symbolical  way  of  stating  the  great  ethical  truth  that  a 
man  should  be  willing  to  sacrifice  himself  for  the  good 
of  other  people,  and  die  in  order  that  he  may  live. 

Now,  these  are  the  symptoms.  You  will  find  them 
cropping  out  in  pulpits  here  and  there  all  over  the  land, 
and  they  will  be  finding  utterance,  too,  on  the  part  of 
men  who  have  not  given  themselves  the  trouble  to  make 
any  specific  dogmatic  statement  of  where  they  stand ; 
indeed,  I  do  not  know  that  they  always  are  quite  sure 
where  they  do  stand.  But  these  are  symptoms  of  a 
disease.  The  disease  is  the  new  Christianity,  and  the 
great  rubric  of  the  new  Christianity  is  that  the  function 
of  the  church  is  moral  reform,  and  the  Gospel  is  the 
great  scheme  for  the  regeneration  of  society. 

Now,  this  position  may  have  been  reached  in  one  of 
two  ways.  It  may  be  that  men  have  reached  this  posi- 
tion by  a  new  interpretation  of  the  Bible,  or  it  may  be 
that  they  have  reached  this  position  by  a  new  attitude 
towards  Christianity.  I  do  not  think  that  they  have 
reached  this  position  by  a  new  interpretation  of  the 
Bible.  Those  who  most  depart  from  the  faith  as  we 
believe  it  are  most  ready  to  say  that  the  Bible  teaches 
it,  but  it  is  so  much  the  worse  for  the  Bible.  I  am, 
therefore,  in  the  fullest  kind  of  sympathy  with  a  certain 
heterodox  thinker  who  said  that  the  Bible  is  certainly 
an  orthodox  book. 

The  new  position  is  not  reached  by  a  new  reading  of 
the  Bible  but  by  a  new  attitude  towards  Christianity. 
This  new  attitude  towards  Christianity  may  have  been 
the  result  of  one  or  two  things.  It  may  be  that  a  sci- 
entific study  of  the  Scriptures  shows  that  they  will  not 


110  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

support  the  old  views  of  Christianity,  or  it  may  be  that 
a  new  philosophy  of  Christianity  shows  that  it  will  not 
support  the  old  views  of  the  Scriptures. 

Whether  it  be  from  the  literary  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures that  we  have  been  forced  to  a  new  philosophy  of 
Christianity,  or  whether  it  be  that  from  a  new  philoso- 
phy of  Christianity  we  have  been  forced  to  a  lower  view 
of  the  Scriptures,  will  depend  altogether  on  circum- 
stances ;  but  both  forces  are  actually  in  operation  and 
have  been  for  some  time.  The  new  Christianity  is  the 
result  of  both — the  result  of  a  literary  criticism  on  the 
one  hand,  which  has  weakened  faith  in  the  authority  of 
the  Scriptures  on  the  one  side,  and  the  result  of  a  phi- 
losophy of  religion,  or  a  metaphysic,  which  has  made  it 
impossible  for  men  to  receive  the  miraculous  stories  of 
the  Bible  on  the  other  side.  The  consequence  is  that 
you  are  finding  men  coming  up  to  Christianity  under 
these  conceptions.  So  that  the  real  trouble  at  the  pres- 
ent day  is  a  difference  of  opinion  on  the  question.  What 
is  Christianity? 

Now,  I  venture  the  affirmation  that  there  are  few 
questions  of  graver  import  and  greater  importance  at 
the  present  moment  than  this.  What  is  Christianity?  I 
will  tell  you  why  I  think  some  people  have  not  felt  so 
much  interested  in  the  recent  discussion  of  the  revision 
of  the  Confession  of  Faith.  It  was  not  because  that 
they  did  not  believe  that  you  could  improve  the  phrase- 
ology of  the  Confession.  It  was  not  that  they  do  not 
believe  that  the  phraseology  has  been  improved.  It  was 
the  feeling  that  it  did  not  touch  the  deeper  question, 
and  that  it  would  not  do  what  it  was  expected  to  do.  It 
was  the  feeling  that  some  man  might  have  who  was 
putting  a  new  paper  on  his  drawing-room,  and  whose 
interest  in  it  was  in  a  certain  sense  modified  by  the 
knowledge  that  somebody  else  was  putting  dynamite 
down  in  the  cellar. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  Ill 

What  is  Christianity?  I  will  tell  you  what  we  think 
it  is.  I  will  tell  you  what  Christianity  has  always  been 
regarded  as  being,  during  this  great  century  of  Presby- 
terian doctrine,  which  is  the  theme  of  my  discourse. 
Christianity,  according  to  that  view,  is  a  supernatural 
revelation  of  a  way  of  salvation  from  sin  through  the 
incarnation  and  bloodshedding  of  the  Son  of  God. 
That  is  the  old  Christianity.  Now,  suppose  that  be 
true — and  we  who  are  here  to-night  are  among  those  who 
believe  it  to  be  true — suppose,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
that  we  concede  it  to  be  true,  then  what  follows?  Why, 
then,  I  say  you  need  only  to  postulate  in  behalf  of  a 
man  the  ordinary  outfit  of  intelligence  to  be  able  to  say 
of  that  man  that  he  is  interested  in  the  question  as  to 
the  seat  of  authority  in  religion  and  the  extent  of  it. 
If  a  piece  of  supernatural  information  has  been  com- 
municated to  this  world  in  regard  to  salvation  I  want  to 
know  where  it  is.  If  it  is  in  the  organism,  let  us  know 
it.  If  it  is  in  a  book,  let  us  know  it.  But  the  question 
as  to  whether  it  be  in  the  church,  or  whether  it  be  in 
the  Bible,  is  a  matter  of  great  moment.  You  may  not 
agree  with  the  Roman  Catholic  or  the  Anglican,  but 
you  must  respect  his  honest  convictions  and  his  intelli- 
gent interest  in  this  question. 

If  you  have  come  to  the  other  conclusion  and  found 
it  in  the  Book,  then,  when  you  have  settled  the  question 
as  to  the  seat  of  authority,  the  next  question  for  you  will 
be  the  contents.  If  that  piece  of  supernatural  informa- 
tion has  been  communicated  by  God  to  man  and  the 
deposit  of  faith  has  been  lodged  in  the  Scriptures  of  the 
Old  and  New  Testament,  there  can  be  few  questions  of 
greater  moment  than  this.  What  do  they  say?  In  those 
old  times  when  men  believed  without  hesitation  or  a 
moment's  doubt  in  the  absolute  authority,  plenary  inspi- 
ration and  inerrancy  of  the  Scriptures,  the  one  question 


112  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

of  interest  with  them  was,  What  do  they  say?  And  men 
would  read  the  Scriptures.  They  would  pore  over  their 
Greek  Testament  or  their  Greek  lexicon  and  their  Greek 
grammars  and  their  commentaries.  They  wanted  to 
know  what  Ellicott  said  and  what  Meyer  said  about 
these  things.  They  would  come  up  against  those  hard 
passages,  and  the  ministers  would  meet  on  Monday 
morning  in  solemn  conclave  and  listen  to  a  paper  an 
hour  long  by  somebody  who  had  exhausted  all  the  inge- 
nuity of  exegetical  skill  in  order  to  tell  us  what  was 
meant  by  being  baptized  for  the  dead  ;  and  men  would 
look  anxiously  for  the  coming  of  the  next  Quarterly 
Theological  Journal,  when  some  wise,  learned,  expert 
in  exegetical  theology  would  give  him  a  new  view  of 
what  was  meant  by  preaching  to  the  spirits  in  prison. 
There  are  not  many  ministers'  meetings  that  discuss 
such  questions  now,  I  take  it.  This  intense,  enthusias- 
tic interest  in  exegesis  is  dead.     Why? 

So  they  came  to  the  great  questions  as  to  doctrine. 
Is  there  a  piece  of  supernatural  information  couched  in 
human  language  and  deposited  in  the  Old  and  New 
Testament,  and  does  it  tell  about  the  place  of  Jesus  in 
the  scale  of  being?  What  was  He?  Was  He  God  alone, 
or  man  alone,  or  both  God  and  man,  or  neither  God 
nor  man?  People  say  they  are  not  interested  in  doc- 
trine now.  Why  not?  Does  the  Bible  speak  about 
human  sin?  What  is  it?  What  is  its  extent,  and  what 
the  penalty,  and  how  did  it  come,  and  what  is  its  rem- 
edy? People  say  they  do  not  want  to  hear  about  doc- 
trine now.  Why  not?  I  tell  you  that  if  men  believe  in 
supernatural  revelation,  and  that  it  is  found  in  the  Bible, 
no  man,  if  he  be  above  an  idiot,  can  help  being  inter- 
ested in  these  theological  questions.  But  men,  sensible 
men  too,  say  they  are  not,  and  we  must  believe  them. 
Men  with  the  ordinary  intellectual  outfit  say  that. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  113 

What  am  I  to  conclude?  My  conclusion  is  that  the 
reason  for  this  decline  of  interest  is  in  a  changed  atti- 
tude, and  that  they  do  not  define  Christianity  as  I  define 
it  and  as  the  church  during  this  century  has  defined  it. 
How  do  they  define  it?  Now,  I  am  not  speaking  for 
anybody  in  particular,  and  I  am  not  talking  about  any- 
body in  particular.  I  am  talking  about  tendencies,  and 
yet  I  am  not  putting  up  a  man  of  straw  by  any  means. 
Ever}^  one  who  knows  the  theological  literature  and  the 
tendencies  of  this  day,  knows  perfectly  well  that  I  am 
not,  and  I  am  responsible  for  what  I  say. 

The  new  Christianity  is  a  traverse  of  the  definition 
that  I  gave  a  little  while  ago.  We  affirm  that  Christi- 
anity is  a  supernatural  revelation  of  a  way  of  salvation 
through  the  incarnation  and  bloodshedding  of  the  blood 
of  God.  They  deny  it.  The  denial  is  in  a  general 
form  ;  but  the  substitute  which  they  setup  may  take  one 
or  more  forms.     Let  us  look  at  two  of  these  forms. 

If  Christianity  is  not  what  we  have  said,  what  is  it? 
It  may  be,  and  in  the  minds  of  a  great  many  it  is,  a 
moment,  a  stage  in  a  great  cosmic  process  of  evolution. 
We  have  come  up  from  the  lower  to  the  higher  in 
the  organic  life,  in  mental  development,  in  moral 
life,  in  religious  belief.  There  has  been  an  evolution 
of  religious  literature,  an  evolution  of  the  religious 
ideas  embodied  in  that  literature,  and  an  evolution 
of  the  interpretation  of  those  ideas.  There  has  been 
an  evolution  of  Christian  doctrine  through  the  cen- 
turies. Very  well.  You  may  put  that  in  the  terms 
of  mind  or  you  may  put  it  in  the  terms  of  matter.  You 
may  put  it  in  the  Hegelian  form  or  you  may  put  it  in 
the  Spencerian  form.  The  Hegelian  came  first,  and 
the  Spencerian  came  last.  It  is  the  naturalistic  inter- 
pretation that  has  the  vogue  just  now.  There  is 
a  certain    recrudescence    of   Hegelianism   in    England 


114  THE    CENTENNIAL   EXERCISES. 

just  now.  However,  whether  it  be  one  or  whether  it 
be  the  other  matters  not,  so  far  as  our  purpose  is  con- 
cerned. The  effect  of  it  is  to  give  you  a  purely  natu- 
ralistic interpretation  of  our  Scripture,  so  that  there 
never  was  a  fall,  and  there  is  no  sin  except  in  so  far  as 
sin  is  a  word  to  mark  the  fact  that  man  has  not  yet 
arrived  at  the  goal  of  his  development ;  miracles  did  not 
happen,  and  there  was  no  atonement,  and  could  be  no 
Incarnation.     So  your  doctrine  is  pretty  well  gone. 

You  do  not  wonder  that  people  under  those  circum- 
stances do  not  care  much  for  doctrine.  Why  should 
they?  There  is  none.  There  is  nothing  left  but  the 
ethics,  but  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  but  the  closing 
passages  in  the  Epistles  with  which  Paul  wound  up  his 
fine  letters. 

Perhaps  that  is  not  the  only  view  of  Christianity 
either,  and  it  is  not,  because  under  the  influence  of  this 
metaphysical  thinking  all  the  doctrines  of  the  Bible 
were  evaporated,  your  atonement  was  explained  this 
way,  and  your  Trinity  was  explained  that  way,  and  the 
person  of  Christ  was  explained  another  way,  and  there 
came  a  revulsion  of  feeling ;  for  when  the  pendulum 
gets  as  far  as  it  can  go  one  way,  there  is  nothing  left  for 
it  to  do  except  to  go  back  just  as  far  as  it  can  the  other 
way.     It  has  got  that  way  now. 

So  as  there  were  those  who,  denying  our  definition  of 
Christianity,  said  it  was  a  moment  in  a  great  process 
of  evolution,  there  are  those  at  the  present  day  who  will 
tell  you  that  Christianity  is  the  self-revelation  of  God  in 
Christ,  and  now  they  pose  as  the  great  reformers  of  the 
church.  These  are  the  men  who  have  delivered  us 
from  metaph3'sics  and  the  trammels  of  the  schools. 
These  are  the  men  who  have  gone  back  to  the  historic 
basis  of  Christianity  in  the  historic  life  of  Christ.  These 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  115 

are  the  men  who  preach  Jesus  only,  and  see  no  man  but 
Jesus  only.  These  are  the  men  who  emphasize  the 
historic  Christ. 

Now  that  is  the  good  side  of  it.  There  is  that  good 
in  it.  But  that  is  not  the  only  side  of  it.  They  say  we 
have  Jesus.  Jesus  is  a  revelation  to  us  of  God,  We 
cannot  trust  the  argument  from  design  or  the  argu- 
ment from  the  order  of  the  world  to  prove  the  existence 
of  God.  We  cannot  trust  their  authority  or  cogency. 
We  trust  Jesus  for  proving  to  us  that  there  is  a  God, 
and  for  showing  to  us,  moreover,  what  kind  of  a  God 
He  is.  We  are  delivered  from  metaphysics,  and  we 
are  independent  of  criticism.  Now  let  critics  do  their 
work.  We  have  got  Jesus.  Banish  metaphysics,  get 
independent  of  the  critics,  and  it  looks  as  though  you 
had  your  Christianity  out  clean,  with  nothing  to  inter- 
fere with  it  or  challenge  it.     Let  us  see. 

You  say  that  you  are  independent  of  criticism.  I 
have  heard  that  story  before.  I  have  heard  at  least  two 
classes  of  men  say  that  they  were  independent  of  criti- 
cism. I  have  heard  the  Anglican  say  that.  I  have 
seen  the  coalition  between  the  Broad  Churchman  and 
the  High  Churchman  where  the  Broad  Churchman 
could  swallow  everything  that  the  High  Churchman 
would  say  and  the  High  Churchman  could  swallow 
everything  that  the  Broad  Churchman  would  say.  And 
so  men  of  the  "  Lux  mundi'"  school  say,  "  Bring  on 
your  criticism  and  do  your  worst  with  Paul  or  the  Gos- 
pels, we  have  the  doctrines  in  the  church."  How  did 
they  get  their  doctrines  in  the  church  ?  How  did  they 
get  their  church?  How  do  they  come  to  be'  so  confi- 
dent about  their  church?  If  the  church  had  not  been 
spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament,  where  would  they 
have  got  the  church,  and  if  the  New  Testament  goes, 
where  is  the  church  going? 


116  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

I  have  heard  other  Protestants  say  the  same  thing. 
I  have  heard  men  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  say,  "  It 
does  not  make  any  difference  what  the  higher  critics 
have  to  say  ;  go  along  with  your  two  Isaiahs,  or  your 
two  Zachariahs,  and  make  what  you  please  of  the  four 
Gospels  and  second  Peter  and  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  we 
have  the  witness  of  the  Spirit,"  and  they  quote  to  me 
the  Confession  of  Faith.  How  do  they  know  that  they 
have  the  witness  of  the  Spirit?  They  are  in  a  certain 
psychological  state,  which  they  are  pleased  to  impute  to 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  How  did  they  come  to  put  that 
interpretation  upon  that  psychological  state?  They  got 
it  out  of  Paul,  and  if  it  is  all  up  with  Paul  what  about 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit? 

Independent  of  the  critics  !  Suppose  it  be  true  that 
you  have  not  any  four  Gospels.  Suppose  Schmiedel 
is  right,  and  you  cannot  put  your  finger  on  more 
than  five  or  six  marked  incidents  of  the  life  of 
Christ  on  which  to  build  the  narrative  of  his  earthly 
career?  Suppose  that  the  Epistles  of  Paul,  though 
they  were  written  by  him,  are  unworthy  of  credence, 
for  that  seems  to  be  the  position  some  want  to  put  us  in? 
Some  of  them  say,  "  We  could  believe  the  Gospels  if  we 
only  had  them,"  and  then  they  say,  "  We  have  Paul,  but 
we  do  not  believe  him,"  and  between  the  Paul  that  they 
have  but  do  not  believe  and  the  Gospels  they  would 
believe  but  do  not  have,  they  make  very  sorry  work  of  it. 

Suppose  that  is  it,  what  becomes  of  your  religion  in- 
dependent of  the  critics?  Is  not  the  whole  religion  of 
the  historic  Christ  right  there?  Then  you  are  not  in- 
dependent. Then  that  first  boast  of  yours  must  go 
down.  You  are  not  independent  of  criticism.  Are  you 
independent  of  metaphysics?  Who  was  Jesus?  How 
was  He  revealed?  You  say  He  has  revealed  God. 
How  do  you  know?     You  say  He  has  taught  you  the 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  117 

way  of  life.  How  do  you  know?  Who  was  He?  Was 
He  a  mere  man?  Then  why  does  He  speak  with  any 
more  authority  for  me  than  Epictetus  or  Socrates?  Was 
He  more  than  man?  How  much  more?  Did  He  live 
before  He  was  born?  Had  He  a  pre-existent  state? 
Then  He  had  a  place  in  the  scale  of  being.  Then  you 
have  a  metaphysic.  Was  He  God?  Then  you  have 
a  metaphysic.  How  can  you  posit  anything  regard- 
ing Jesus  more  than  His  bare  humanity  and  not  be 
metaphysical?  I  cannot  say.  You  say  you  do  not 
know  whether  He  was  God.  No,  they  do  not.  You 
say  you  do  not  attach  any  importance  to  the  miracles. 
No,  you  do  not.  But  that  He  is  to  you  as  if  He  were 
God.  His  divinity  is  a  value-judgment,  and  you  rev- 
erence and  worship  as  though  He  were  God. 

Well  now,  how  can  you  worship  Him  as  God  if  you 
do  not  know  Him  to  be  God?  How  can  you  believe 
Him  to  be  God  if  you  have  no  evidence  that  He  is  God? 
How  can  you  be  emotionally  accepting  what  you  have 
already  intellectually  rejected?  That  is  your  position. 
You  are  simply  cheating  your  judgment  through  your 
feelings. 

Then  you  cannot  escape  metaphysics.  But  you  have 
given  up  doctrine  because  that  is  metaphysics.  You 
have  given  up  the  Trinity  because  that  is  metaphysics. 
You  have  given  up  the  divinity  of  Christ  because  that 
is  metaphysics.  You  have  given  up  the  atonement,  for 
that  is  metaphysics,  too.  You  have  eliminated  doctrine 
of  all  it  contains,  but  you  keep  its  morals.  You  are 
back  again  where  you  were  before.  You  are  back  with 
the  Hegelians.  You  have  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
and  you  have  the  ethics. 

That  is  exactly  what  you  have  not  got,  my  friends. 
That  is  the  very  worst  part  of  it.  That  is  the  pathetic 
conclusion  of  this  whole  business. 


118  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

What  I  want  to  have  the  church  understand  (and 
would  to  God  I  could  speak  in  the  tones  of  a  trumpet 
until  they  did  hear  it  and  could  understand  it)  is,  that 
Christianity  must  be  more  than  ethical  in  order  to  be 
even  ethical.  Do  you  not  see  it?  You  say  you  have  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  You  have  the  great  law  of 
monogamy.  You  have  the  great  Christian  doctrine  of 
divorce.  On  what  authority?  Now,  let  us  get  right 
down  to  this  question.  Jesus  says  something  on  the 
subject  of  marriage.  He  teaches  monogamy,  and  He 
limits  divorce  a  vinculo  to  a  specific  cause.  Do  you 
believe  that  doctrine  on  the  authority  of  Jesus,  or  do 
3'ou  value  Jesus  on  the  authority  of  that  teaching? 
Which?  Does  the  teaching  authenticate  Jesus,  or  does 
Jesus  authenticate  the  teaching  ?  Which  ?  Well,  let  us 
look  at  it  either  way.  Of  course,  if  Jesus  is  divine  and 
speaks  with  authority,  then  in  His  magisterial  tone  you 
have  an  absolute  answer.  But  suppose  he  is  not — 
suppose  that  he  is  simply  a  great  teacher  like  Socrates 
or  Epictetus,  Marcus  Aurelius,  Seneca,  or  anybody  else 
who  enunciates  moral  sentiments.  I  may  like  them  or 
1  may  not  like  them.  Suppose  I  do  not  like  them. 
Suppose  I  do  like  them.  I  follow  Jesus.  In  other 
words,  Jesus's  teaching  meets  a  certain  moral  aesthetic 
in  me,  brought  up  as  I  am.  If  I  had  been  brought 
up  in  the  Mohammedan  empire  I  would  not  have  felt 
that  way. 

Now  then,  do  you  not  see  where  we  are  ?  Give  up 
the  divinity  of  Christ,  give  up  all  the  doctrine,  stop 
with  the  ethics,  what  is  to  support  the  ethics  ?  Have 
we  an  absolute  intuition?  Would  a. man  say  that  it  is 
self-evident,  universal,  and  necessary,  as  an  a  priori 
element  of  his  thinking,  that  a  man  shall  have  only  one 
wife  and  that  he  shall  put  her  away  only  for  one  cause  ? 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  119 

There  is  no  intuition  in  my  mind  that  way.  Well  then, 
what  is  the  authority  for  the  Christian  view  of  marriage 
and  divorce  ? 

So  with  a  great  many  other  things.  When  Paul  says, 
*'  Wherefore,  if  meat  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will 
eat  no  flesh  while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my 
brother  to  offend,"  he  enunciates  that  great  doctrine 
which  has  done  more  to  moralize  the  world  than  any- 
thing else  outside  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Does 
he  speak  by  revelation,  or  is  he  simply  voicing  for 
you  and  me  an  intuition  that  you  and  I,  and  every- 
body else,  have  had  all  along?  I  have  not  any  such 
intuition.  Have  you?  If  you  did  not  know  that  Paul 
said  it,  and  had  a  right  to  say  it,  would  you  believe  it? 

Then,  when  you  have  given  up  the  dogmatic  side  of 
Christianity  —  that  is  the  point  I  want  to  make  (people 
say,  "  We  do  not  want  the  doctrine  ;  it  is  the  morals  we 
want  "  )  —  I  say  when  you  have  given  up  the  dogmatic 
side  of  Christianity,  what  is  to  support  it?  You  have 
not  only  reduced  your  Christianity  to  morals,  but  you 
have  done  more  than  that.  You  have  reduced  it  to 
moral  philosophy,  which  is  a  very  different  thing.  You 
have  appealed  from  the  high  court  of  the  supernatural 
to  the  court  of  philosophy.  You  have  appealed  unto 
Cfesar.  To  Ceesar  you  shall  go.  And  when  you  have 
eliminated  the  supernatural  and  got  rid  of  the  dogmatic, 
your  morals  of  Christianity  are  down  to  the  level  of 
moral  philosophy.  Let  us  go  along  now  and  talk 
about  moral  philosophy,  and  ask  ourselves  one  or 
two  fundamental  questions.  Here  we  are,  all  of  us, 
with  a  very  tolerable  degree  of  respect  for  the  Ten 
Commandments.  We  violate  them  in  thought,  word, 
or  deed,  some  or  all  of  them,  but  we  still  have  great 
respect  for  them.  When  we  violate  them  we  say  we 
ought  not  to  do  it,  and  that  is  something  to  be  said  for 


120  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

a  man.  It  is  something  for  a  man  who  does  do  wrong 
to  have  something  in  him  that  tells  him  he  ought  not  to 
do  wrong.  But  you  are  now  in  a  position  where  you 
will  not  only  do  wrong,  but  you  will  have  no  restraint 
on  doing  wrong.  You  are  in  that  position  where  you 
will  not  only  break  the  Ten  Commandments,  but  where 
you  will  have  this  question  confronting  you.  Why  in  the 
world  should  I  ever  keep  them  if  I  do  not  want  to?  I 
defy  you  to  find  in  the  answers  of  the  ethical  philoso- 
phers of  to-day  (and  I  think  I  know  something  about 
them)  a  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question,  Why  should 
I  be  moral?  I  do  not  care  what  you  mean  by  being 
moral,  take  it  to  cover  any  one  of  the  Ten  Command- 
ments or  all  of  them,  I  defy  you  to  find  in  the  philosophers 
of  to-da}'- such  a  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question.  Why 
should  I  be  moral  ?  as  that  you  would  feel  restrained, 
and  that  there  will  be  something  in  you  that  will  effect- 
ually resist  this  rising  tide  of  passion. 

Now  then,  why  do  I  value  morals?  Because  if  I 
should  be  immoral,  you  may  be  immoral,  and  every- 
body may  be  immoral,  and  if  the  world  generally 
should  steal  and  lie  and  cheat,  I  do  not  know  how  long 
it  would  take,  but  in  the  course  of  several  millions  of 
years,  society  would  go  to  pieces.  Now,  believe  me,  in 
the  hands  of  some  of  the  ripest  thinkers  of  the  present 
day,  that  is  about  all  they  can  say  for  it ;  and  to  the 
man  who  says  "  let  it  go  to  pieces,"  you  have  absolutely 
no  answer. 

Ah,  my  friends,  Christianity  has  moralized  this 
world,  not  simply  because  it  has  taught  precepts,  but 
because  it  has  taught  as  one  that  had  authority  to  teach, 
and  not  as  the  scribes.  It  taught  this  morality  in  con- 
nection with  the  doctrine  of  sin  and  the  doctrine  of 
atonement,  and  the  doctrine  of  God  and  the  doctrine  of 
incarnation,  and  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state,  and  the 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  121 

doctrine  of  the  schism  in  our  nature  between  the  good 
and  the  bad,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  help  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  It  was  these  great  theological  truths  in  connec- 
tion with  these  great  moral  verities  that  constituted  the 
great  conception  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  it  is  that 
conception  which  has  made  this  world  moral,  not  a  few 
scattered  maxims  of  prudential  morality.  When  you 
have  given  that  up,  and  the  body  of  doctrines  and  pre- 
cepts which  constitute  it,  you  have  absolutely  nothing 
to  stand  in  the  way  of  appetite,  and  selfishness,  and 
greed.  After  that  it  is  only  when  passion  dies  and 
virtue  itself  becomes  an  appetite,  that  you  can  hope  for 
a  morality  that  will  stem  the  tide  of  lawlessness. 

In  its  last  analysis  there  is  in  the  new  Christianity  a 
complete  surrender  of  supernaturalism.  I  do  not  say 
that  in  the  persons  of  all  who  profess  it,  or  of  even  the 
most  who  protess  it,  it  has  come  to  this.  I  am  speaking 
of  its  tendencies  in  its  last  analysis.  It  is  a  complete 
surrender  of  supernaturalism,  and  the  surrender  of 
supernaturalism  is  the  surrender  of  obligatory  morals, 
and  the  surrender  of  obligatory  morals  is  the  sur- 
render of  morality  itself  save  as  it  is  enforced  by  the 
sanctions  of  affection,  by  the  jealous  care  a  man  has 
for  his  own  interests,  by  fear  of  social  ostracism,  by 
the  sheriff,  and  the  shot  gun.  You  have  either  to 
believe  that  there  is  no  morality  that  is  binding  on 
anybody,  or  else  you  have  to  believe  in  a  morality  that 
is  binding,  in  a  duty  that  must  be  performed,  and  failure 
to  perform  which  is  sin.  The  moment  you  say  "  ought," 
and  the  moment  you  put  that  word  "  ought"  in  its  proper 
place  in  your  vocabulary,  that  moment  this  old  doctrine 
of  sin  that  you  thought  you  had  got  rid  of  comes  back,  and 
the  moment  you  are  face  to  face  with  that  doctrine  of 
sin  in  the  "  ought  not,"  there  comes  up  the  cry  of  the 


122  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

soul  for  something  that  will  deliver  us,  something  that 
will  save,  for  some  power  that  will  forgive.  Mark 
well  what  is  meant  by  giving  up  the  old  Christianity. 
For  we  are  at  the  place  where  Peter  was  when,  con- 
scious of  the  alternatives  before  him,  he  said,  Lord,  to 
whom  shall  we  go  but  unto  thee,  for  thou  hast  the 
words  of  eternal  life  ? 

My  friends,  we  have  either  to  go  on  in  this  journey 
of  negation  and  doubt  to  the  very  bottomless  pit  of 
despair,  or  we  have  to  retrace  our  steps  and  go  back, 
and  back,  until  we  rehabilitate  Paul  and  give  him  his 
ancient  place,  and  back,  and  back,  until  we  come  to 
atoning  blood.  I  do  not  take  any  pessimistic  view  of 
the  future,  because  the  Holy  Ghost  is  the  great  hope 
of  the  church,  and  our  faith  does  not  stand  in  the 
wisdom  of  men  but  in  the  power  of  God.  But  in  that 
great  defection  which  seems  likely  to  come,  and  which 
will  affect  not  our  church  only  but  all  Protestant 
Churches,  and  all  churches  of  every  kind,  I  do  believe 
there  is  a  great  work  to  be  done  by  the  churches  that 
still  hold  on  to  a  dogmatic  faith.  While  I  do  not  wish 
to  arrogate  for  the  church  that  I  have  the  honor  to  serve 
any  conspicuous  position  above  other  churches,  still  I 
think  that  in  view  of  her  past  history,  in  view  of  her 
scholarship,  her  equipment,  her  zeal  for  theological 
learning,  and  the  interest  she  has  taken  in  the  purely 
theoretical  side  of  religion,  if  you  choose  to  call  it  such, 
a  work  greater  than  any  she  has  ever  done  is  before 
her  in  defending  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the 
saints. 

The    one   hundred    and    fifty-fourth   hymn    was  then 
suno; : 


Phineas  D.  Gurlev,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  123 

1  Ye  servants  of  God,  your  Master  proclaim, 
And  publish  abroad  His  wonderful  Name; 
The  Name,  all  victorious,  of  Jesus  extol ; 
His  kingdom  is  glorious,  and  rules  over  all. 

2  God  ruleth  on  high,  almighty  to  save; 

And  still  He  is  nigh — His  presence  we  have  ; 
The  great  congregation  His  triumph  shall  sing, 
Ascribing  salvation  to  Jesus,  our  King. 

3  Salvation  to  God,  who  sits  on  the  throne  I 
Let  all  cry  aloud,  and  honor  the  Son  : 
The  praises  of  Jesus  the  angels  proclaim. 

Fall  down  on  their  faces  and  worship  the  Lamb. 

4  Then  let  us  adore,  and  give  Him  His  right, 
All  glory  and  power,  and  wisdom  and  might, 
All  honor  and  blessing,  with  angels  above, 
And  thanks  never  ceasing,  and  infinite  love. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  A.  S. 
Fiske,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  Gunton  Temple  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Washington,  D.  C. 


WEDNESDAY. 

An  Evening  of  Greetings.* 
at  seven  forty-five  in  the  evening. 

The  pastor  presided. 

The  services  began  with  the  rendering  by  the  choir 
of  Whiting's  ''  The  desert  shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as 
the  rose."  ^  The  following  prayer  was  then  offered  by 
Rev.  C.  B.  Ramsdell,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  the  North  Pres- 
byterian Church,  Washington,  D.  C.  : 

We  thank  Thee,  O  God,  for  this  church  home.  We 
rejoice  that  here  so  many  of  us  have  made  profession 
of  our  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  have  been 
permitted  to  enjoy  so  many  precious  communion  sea- 
sons. We  thank  Thee  for  the  blessed  ministrations  of 
those  who,  in  former  years,  here  instructed  and  com- 
forted us.  We  thank  Thee  for  those  who  still  labor 
here,  and  for  those  who,  in  the  colonies  and  missions 
of  this  church,  are  to-day  seeking  to  advance  the  king- 
dom of  our  dear  Lord. 

We  pray,  O  God,  that  as,  in  the  century  past,  this 
church  has  in  all  its  utterances  and  service  proved  loyal 
to  our  Divine  Saviour  and  to  His  holy  Word,  that  so  it 
may  prove  loyal  in  all  the  j'ears  to  come.  Grant,  we 
beseech  Thee,  the  continued  outpouring  of  Thy  Holy 
Spirit  upon  this  people  so  that  ever  increasing  numbers 
may  be  here  converted  and  sanctified  through  Thy 
grace  in  Jesus  Christ.  If  consistent  with  Thy  holy  will 
may  this  congregation  of  believers  abide  in  faith  and 
service  even  until  Jesus  come.     Amen. 

*Stenograpliical]y  reported  liy  Mr.  A.  Warner  Parker. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  125 

The  one  hundred  and   fourth  hymn  was  then  sung: 

1  Tlie  Church's  one  foundation 

Is  Jesus  Christ  her  Lord  ; 
She  Is  His  new  creation 

By  water  and  the  word  : 
From  Heaven  He  came  and  sought  her 

To  be  His  holy  bride  ; 
With  His  own  blood  he  bought  her, 

And  for  her  life  He  died. 

2  Elect  from  every  nation. 

Yet  one  o'er  all  the  eartli. 
Her  charter  of  salvation 

One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  birth  ; 
One  holy  Name  she  blesses. 

Partakes  one  holy  food, 
And  to  one  hope  she  presses, 

With  every  grace  endued. 

3  'Mid  toil  and  tribulation. 

And  tumult  of  her  war, 
She  waits  the  consummation 

Of  peace  for  ever  more  ; 
Till  with  the  vision  glorious 

Her  longing  eyes  are  blessed. 
And  the  great  Church  victorious 

Shall  be  the  Church  at  rest. 

The  greetings  were  then  extended  as  the  representa 
lives  were  presented  by  the  pastor,  Dr.  Radclifte. 

The  Pastor  : 

I  welcome  you,  my  brethren,  to  this  the  last  of  our 
public  centennial  celebrations.  All  have  been  delight- 
ful, but  we  have  saved  the  best  wine  until  the  last.  The 
exercises  this  evening  will  continue  until  nine  o'clock, 
when  the  reception  occurs  to  which  we  invite  all. 

To-night  we  have  a  very  pleasant  and  effective  illus- 
tration of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.     It  is  one  of  the 


126  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

great  joys  of  our  Christian  life  and  work  that  we  are 
parts  of  the  one  great  army ;  we  touch  shoulder  to 
shoulder,  and  believe  and  march  heart  to  heart  under 
the  one  great  banner  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Our 
brethren  here  come  to  us  with  greetings  and  congratu- 
lations. 

The  first  greeting  will  be  from  the  Synod  of 
Baltimore,  with  which  we  are  ecclesiastically  connected, 
and  will  be  deliv^ered  by  the  moderator,  Rev.  T.  C. 
Easton,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Easton  : 

Mr.  President  and  Beloved  Friends : 

It  is  with  great  joy  that  I  come  as  the  bearer  of  warm 
and  loving  greetings  from  the  Synod  of  Baltimore  as 
its  present  moderator  to  this  beloved  and  highly  hon- 
ored church,  now  celebrating  its  one  hundredth  anniver- 
sary. 

The  Synod  of  Baltimore  covers  the  following  terri- 
tory :  The  state  of  Maryland,  the  state  of  Delaware, 
the  District  of  Columbia,  and  a  large  section  of  the  state 
of  Virginia.  It  represents  154  churches  and  27,082 
communicants  and  a  Sunday-school  army  of  27,764. 

In  the  name  of  these  churches,  communicants,  and 
Sunday-schools  I  am  happy  to  extend  their  hearty  and 
loving  congratulations.  Remembering  that  the  hon- 
ored, beloved,  and  consecrated  pastor  of  this  church 
has  held  the  highest  gift  to  be  bestowed  on  the  ministry 
of  the  Presbyterian  body  and  was  recently  moderator 
of  the  General  Assembly,  it  is  not  at  all  out  of  place  to 
extend  the  greetings  of  the  whole  church  in  these 
United  States,  represented  by  7,822  churches,  7,7^5 
ministers,  and  1,677,477  communicants,  and  a  Sunday- 
school    army    of  1,076,457,    all    of  whom   could    they 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  127 

speak  to-night  would  voice  their  glad  thanksgiving  with 
us  to  Christ,  the  head  of  His  church,  for  the  growth, 
and  prosperity,  temporal  and  spiritual,  that  has  crowned 
your  one  hundred  years. 

To-night  I  am  carried  back  to  the  scenes  of  my  boy- 
hood, in  Roxburghshire,  Scotland,  where,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Jed,  there  stands  an  old  royal  oak  known  as  the 
"Capon  Tree."  It  is  one  of  the  monarchs  of  the 
forest.  Beneath  its  wide-spreading  branches  the  dukes, 
lords,  and  earls,  after  hunting,  would  feast  upon  roast 
capons  and  rub}'^  sparkling  wine.  It  is  known  to  be 
over  a  century  and  a  half  old,  and  is  mentioned  in 
"Gilpin's  Forest  Scenery"  as  one  of  the  noblest 
objects  in  the  Scottish  border  landscapes.  Travelers 
from  all  lands  have  visited  this  venerable  oak.  Qiieen 
Victoria  sat  delighted  beneath  its  grateful  shade.  Some 
of  Scotland's  honest  sons  and  bonnie  lasses  have  plighted 
their  troth  beneath  its  boughs.  Weary  travelers  have 
rested  under  its  umbrageous  branches,  and  happy  child- 
hood has  spent  many  a  long  summer  day  in  that  favored 
spot.  So  this  dear  venerable  church,  bearing  the  grace 
of  a  centar3%  has  in  many  respects  been  like  that  royal 
oak.  Under  the  ministry  of  this  century,  thousands 
upon  thousands  have  been  nourished,  strengthened, 
comforted,  and  saved  to  eternal  life.  Like  the  old  oak, 
it  is  still  green  and  flourishing  and  fulfilling  the  prophecy 
of  Israel's  royal  singer,  it  brings  forth  its  fruit,  rich 
and  lucious  fruits,  in  old  age.  We  congratulate  you 
to-night  upon  your  large,  generous,  and  noble  benefac- 
tions and  philanthropic  gifts.  None  knows  this  bettei 
than  the  church  of  which  I  have  the  honor  to  be  pastor, 
and  it  sends  to  you  to-night,  through  me,  its  grateful 
acknowledgments,  wishing  for  the  New  York  Avenue 
Church  a  grander  future  in  the  new  centur\^  upon  which 
you  are  ushered. 


128  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Pardon  a  personal  reference  ere  I  take  my  seat : 
This  church  is  largely  responsible  for  my  being  called 
to  a  Washington  pastorate.  Dr.  Bartlett,  whose  genial 
bright  spirit  has  prompted  so  many  to  seek  counsel 
from  him,  was  asked  what  man  to  call  on  Capitol  Hill. 
He  said  to  the  committee  :  "  Call  Easton,  of  San  Fran- 
cisco," and  so  I  came  from  California.  Then,  in  turn, 
I  am  somewhat  responsible  for  this  church  calling  its 
present  brilliant,  eloquent,  popular  pastor.  Dr.  Rad- 
cliff'e,  for  when  Judge  Randolph  and  other  members  of 
the  committee  conferred  with  me  about  calling  the 
pastor  of  the  Fort  Street  Church,  Detroit,  I  said, 
"  By  all  means  call  Radcliffe,"  and  he  came.  Long 
may  his  bow  abide  in  strength,  and  his  clear  clarion 
trumpet  tones  ring  out  "the  old,  old  story  of  Jesus 
and  his  love"  into  the  new  century,  to  achieve  more 
brilliant  victories  and  to  win  more  souls  as  stars  in  the 
coronet  of  our  Redeemer. 

At  the  memorable  battle  of  Ivry,  when  King  Henry 
rode  past  his  troops,  he  charged  them  to  remember 

"  Seine's  empurpled  flood, 
And  good  Coligni's  hoary  hair  all  dabbled  with  his  blood;  " 

then   facing  the  advancing  hosts  led  by  Mayenne  and 
D'Aumale,  he  cried  out : 

"  Press  where  you  see  my  white  plume  shine, 
Amid  the  ranks  of  war ; 
Be  this  your  oriflamme  to-day  — 
The  helmet  of  Navarre." 

Victory  perched  upon  their  banners  ;  the  St.  Bartholo- 
mew massacre  was  avenged  ;  the  tyrant  was  crushed  in 
the  dust;  and  the  enemies  of  God  suffered  his  rightful 
vengeance. 


Samuel  S.  Mitchell,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  129 

As  the  soldiers  of  a  Heavenly  King,  we  bid  you 
follow  wherever  the  banner,  the  snow-white  banner  of 
the  Cross  as  the  oriflamme  of  His  Sacramental  Host 
shall  wave.  Let  your  watchword  along  the  battle  line  be 
'*  For  Christ  and  the  Glory  of  the  Coming  Kingdom, "^ 
nor  let  us  rest  before  every  foe  bows  the  knee  to  the 
enthroned  Immanuel. 

The  Pastor : 

The  next  greeting  is  from  the  Presbytery  of  Wash- 
ington, and  will  be  delivered  by  its  moderator,  Rev. 
J.  G.  Hamner,  D.  D  . 

Dr.  Hamner  : 

The  Presbytery  of  Washington  City,  at  its  fall  meet- 
ing at  Manassas,  Va.,  directed  its  moderator  and  stated 
clerk  to  convey  its  hearty  congratulations  on  the  celebra- 
tion of  this  centennial.  Allow  me,  without  doing  any- 
thing more  as  there  are  so  many  more  to  speak  to-night, 
to  read  you  the  greeting  as  it  was  written  : 

To  the  Pastor  and  Officials  of  the  JVezu    York  Avenue 
Church : 

Dear  Brethren, — It  gives  me  pleasure  to  commu- 
nicate the  following  action  of  the  Presbytery  of  Wash- 
ington City,  taken  at  its  stated  meeting  held  in  Ma- 
nassas, Va.,  October  6,  1903  : 

"  The  Presbytery  has  heard  with  great  satisfaction  of 
the  coming  of  the  centennial  of  the  New  York  Avenue 
Church,  and  hereby  tenders  its  hearty  congratulations. 
We  rejoice  with  them  in  their  great  past,  in  the  long 
line  of  their  distinguished  ministry,  and  in  their  eminent 
place  as  a  bulwark  of  the  faith  in  the  capital  city  of 
the  Republic. 


130  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

"  We  are  confident  that  the  past  is  only  the  prophecy 
and  promise  of  larger  things  to  be. 

"We  invoke  upon  the  church  thus  entering  upon  a 
new  century  of  activity  and  power,  the  richest  bless- 
ings of  the  everlasting  covenant." 

B.   F.   BiTTINGER, 

Stated  Clerk. 

P.  S.  It  was  also  ordered  that  the  foregoing  resolu- 
tion be  forwarded  to  the  church  by  the  moderator  and 
the  stated  clerk. 

J.  Garland  Hamner, 

Moderator. 
B.  F.  Bittinger, 

Stated  Clerk. 

The  Pastor  : 

I  was  hoping  that  Dr.  Hamner  would  recall  to  us  the 
fact  that  his  father  was  very  intimately  connected  with 
the  interests  of  this  church  and  gave,  in  the  days  of  the 
extreme  necessities  of  the  old  Second  Church,  his  best 
endeavors  and  most  blessed  service. 

Dr.  Hamner  : 

Doctor,  you  will  allow  me,  as  you  have  suggested  it, 
to  say  a  word  regarding  my  father's  connection  with 
this  church.  My  father,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hamner,  of  Bal- 
timore, having  had  for  twenty  years  a  pastorate  there, 
spent  the  last  years  of  his  life  as  a  minister  at  large, 
helping  and  aiding  feeble  churches.  He  never  received 
a  cent  of  salary  in  all  his  ministr}^  having  a  special 
repugnance  to  a  "  hireling  ministr}^."  It  came  to  pass 
that  he  spent  nearly  two  3^ears  in  supplying  the  Second 
Church,  whose  building  occupied  this  site  ;  and  I  know 
that  he  took  great  interest  in  consummating  the  union 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  Vol 

of  the  F  Street  and  the  Second  churches.  And  I 
remember  so  well  preaching  myself  in  the  old  F  Street 
church,  when  a  boy  student  in  the  seminary.  In  my 
audience  was  President  Buchanan  (listening  rather 
impatiently  to  the  boy  preacher)  :  and  General  Cass 
was  there,  and  Professor  Henry  also.  I  remember 
President  Buchanan's  coming  up  after  the  sermon  and 
speaking  a  very  kind  word  regarding  my  entering  the 
ministry.  I  have  always  felt  a  very  peculiar  interest  in 
the  New  York  Avenue  Church.  My  special  friends, 
Dr.  Paxton  and  Dr.  Bartlett,  always  led  me  to  feel  very 
much  interested  in  this  church.  You  have  my  very 
heart}'  well  wishes  for  the  entrance  into  this  new  century 
of  life  and  devotion. 

The  Pastor  : 

The  greetings  of  our  Baptist  brethren  will  be  pre- 
sented by  Rev.  J.  J.  Muir,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Muir  : 

Permit  me  to  read,  Mr.  Chairman,  the  action  taken 
by  the  Baptist  Union,  at  present  in  session,  and  also  of 
the  ministers  of  the  Conference,  of  which  I  happen  to 
be  the  president,  which  accounts  for  my  being  the 
bearer  of  the  greetings  and  congratulations.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Winbigler,  pastor  of  the  First  Baptist  Church, 
whose  centennial  was  held  very  recentl}',  and  Dr. 
Greene  of  the  Calvary  Baptist  Church,  were  also 
appointed  as  members  of  the  same  committee. 

The  Columbia  Association  of  Baptist  Churches,  at  present  in 
annual  session,  tender  to  the  New  York  Avenue  Presbyterian  Church 
■cordial  greetings  and  hearty  congratulations  on  the  happy  close  of  a 
hundred  years  of  marked  usefulness  in  our  capital  city,  and  we  trust 
that  the  centennial  exercises  now  being  held  shall  prove  a  worthy 
inspiration  to  continued  and  ever-increasing  prosperity. 


132  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Permit  a  few  words. 

We  congratulate  you  most  heartily  on  the  successful 
close  of  a  notable  century.  This  has  all  been  referred 
to  on  other  evenings  of  your  exercises,  and  in  it  all  the 
evangelical  churches  of  the  city  have  shared,  realizing 
that  in  your  successes  and  achievements  our  common 
Christianity  has  been  blessed.  What  has  been  the  attain- 
ment through  all  the  struggles  and  difficulties,  through 
all  the  heart-aches  and  sacrifices,  of  those  years  have 
not  only  been  to  you  but  to  us  all  a  comfort  and  an 
inspiration. 

I  remember  a  little  while  ago  a  friend  of  mine  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  he  looked  with  a  otc  eal  of 

interest  upon  an  old  lady  who  was  caring  for  a  plant. 
He  asked  her  what  she  was  doing.  She  said  :  "  I  am 
watering  and  at  the  same  time  watching  this  century 
plant.  It  is  a  little  thing.  I  never  expect  to  see  it 
grow  to  any  large  proportions.  I  certainly  never  expect 
to  see  it  bloom,  but  someon-c  else  zvill!'''  And  what  that 
old  lady  did  in  the  kindness  and  delightfulness  of  her 
heart,  the  brethren  that  had  to  do  with  the  organization 
of  this  church,  that  has  grown  so  splendidly  and 
brought  forth  such  fruit  in  the  richness  of  the  closing 
century,  did  in  the  first  days  of  its  life. 

We  congratulate  you  also  upon  the  strength  of  your 
denominationalism.  It  is  a  good  thing  to  know  that 
there  are  those  who  believe  something  in  these  days  ; 
who  have  a  creed  so  definite  and  conclusive  that  they 
hold  to  it  with  all  the  tenacity  of  those  who  recognize 
the  fact  that  their  creed  is  worthy  to  be  formulated  in 
noble  action  and  in  splendid  devotion.  You  know  what 
old  Carlyle  said  about  that  first  question  in  the  shorter 
catechism,  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of  man?  "  But  of 
course  you  all  know  that.     I  was  brought  up  on  that  \\\ 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  133 

Scotland,  years  ago,  myself.  He  said,  "  There  is  no 
gospel  of  dirt  in  that."  And  certainly  there  is  not. 
There  is  stalwartness.  There  is  solidity  of  thought;  and 
we  congratulate  you  to-night  upon  the  strength  of  your 
denominationalism,  and  how  you  have  magnified  it  in 
3'our  work  and  in  your  worship. 

We  congratulate  you  lastly  upon  the  breadth  of  your 
interdenominationalism.  You  have  been  enabled  to  be 
true  to  the  convictions  dear  to  you,  and  you  have  recog- 
nized convictions  as  equally  dearto  others  ;  so  that  while 
you  have  been  striking  hands  thus  in  the  consecration 
of  your  own  respective  views,  you  have  also  been  ena- 
bled to  strike  hands  with  others  in  their  common  rela- 
tionship, in  a  common  Christ  and  in  a  common  hope. 
And  so  we  congratulate  you  to-night  on  the  pleasant 
relationships  sustained  with  all  denominations.  I 
think  it  was  stated  one  evening  this  week  that  this 
house  has  been  open  almost  every  week  through  the 
years  to  some  phase  or  other  of  interdenominational 
life,  welcoming  into  its  sanctuary  peoples  of  all  creeds 
who  love  the   Lord  Jesus  Christ   in  sincerit}^ 

May  God  give  you  large  blessing  in  the  coming 
century  !  Having  reached  this  magnificent  height  of 
outlook,  none  can  tell  to-night,  none  can  begin  to  spec- 
ulate, as  to  what  your  history  may  be  in  the  coming 
years ;  but  we  shall  all  rejoice  by  the  grace  of  God,  in 
every  success  and  in  all  the  experiences  of  hope  and 
life,  through  Jesus  Christ,  our  Lord. 

The  Pastor  : 

Our  brethren  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
have  appointed  a  committee  of  two,  Dr.  Alfred  Harding 
and  Dr.  R.  H.  McKim,  both  of  whom  we  are  very  glad 
to  welcome.     Dr.  McKim  will  offer  their  greetings. 


134  the  centennial  exercises. 

Dr.  McKim  : 

Dr.   Radcliffe .,    Christian  Brethren : 

I  bring  you  cordial  and  very  sincere  congratulations 
upon  this  happy  occasion  from  the  Bishop  of  Washing- 
ton and  from  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  ;  and  I  do  so  in  no  formal  or  con- 
ventional spirit.  We  know  the  talents  and  value  of 
your  pastor ;  we  recognize  the  splendid  service  of  this 
body  of  Christian  people  in  this  communit}';  we  recog- 
nize what  they  have  done  for  humanity,  for  Christian 
manhood,  for  that  strong,  virile  Christianity  that  char- 
acterizes you  and  your  church  ;  we  recognize,  I  say, 
all  these  things,  of  which  I  will  not  stop  to  speak,  and 
therefore  our  congratulations  to-night,  and  our  greet- 
ings are  very  hearty  and  sincere. 

My  brethren,  it  seems  to  me  that  this  occasion  accen- 
tuates in  a  peculiar  manner  what  I  shall  venture  to  call 
the  unity  in  diversity  of  our  Protestant  Christianit}-. 
Here  we  are  to-night  on  this  platform,  representatives 
of  various  forms  of  Christianity ;  I  wish  it  were  not  so. 
I  wish  that  we  were  all  together  not  only  in  spirit,  but 
in  every  particular.  I  do  not  think  that  the  present 
condition  of  Christendom  in  that  respect  is  ideal  at  all. 
Yet  behind  and  underneath  all  this  apparent  diversity 
there  is  a  real  unity,  a  unity  that  means  a  great  deal,  a 
unity  in  which  we  may  well  rejoice,  which  we  ought  to 
recognize,  and  which  may  be  the  instrument  of  great 
work  for  God  and  for  man.  Is  there  not  much  unity 
here  among  us?  Do  we  not  all  stand  upon  the  unity  of 
the  doctrines  taught  in  the  Apostles' Creed?  And  is  there 
not  the  unity  of  a  common  ethical  standard,  a  common 
love  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  common  recognition  of  his  sole 
mediatorship,  and  of  the  individual  relation  of  each 
Christian  soul  to  its  God  through  Jesus  Christ?  My 
Christian  brethren  of  all    these  various  denominations, 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  135 

we  ought  to  recognize  and  accentuate  that  unity.  We 
who  are  on  this  platform  represent,  I  believe,  nearly 
forty  millions  of  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  a 
splendid  aggregation  of  power  :  and  I  say  that  Protes- 
tant Christians  ought  to  stand  together,  ought  to  stand 
by  each  other,  for  the  time  is  coming,  indeed  now  is, 
when  we  shall  need  to  stand  together,  and  it  is  nowhere 
more  important  than  in  the  metropolis  of  this  country — 
I  need  not  say — you  understand  ;  I  say  that  here  in  the 
metropolis  of  this  country  it  is  of  exceeding  importance 
that  those  who  believe  in  the  fundamental  principles  of 
the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  century  should  stand 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  because  the  peril  of  the  sixteenth 
century  has  not  altogether  passed  away. 

This  occasion  accentuates,  even  more,  perhaps  I  may 
venture  to  say  —  what  shall  I  call  it?  —  the  zeal,  the 
virile  strength,  and  the  splendid  services  for  God  and 
man  of  that  great  Presbyterian  communion  of  which  you 
form  a  part.  We  of  tlie  Episcopal  Church  recognize  the 
splendid  services  and  the  splendid  work  of  the  Presby- 
terian communion.  We  know  something  about  your  high 
intellectuality  and  your  splendid  scholarship.  We  love 
to  read  what  your  scholars  have  written  ;  we  love  to  be 
led  by  them.  We  recognize  also  what  the  great  Pres- 
byterian communion  has  done  and  is  doing  in  this  vast 
land  of  ours,  in  the  waste  places  of  the  West  and  South. 
We  look  across  the  sea  and  we  see  what  you  are  doing  in 
foreign  lands ;  we  look  at  home  and  see  your  zeal  for 
Jesus  Christ,  especially  your  conservatism,  sturdiness 
which  shall  be  able  to  cope  with  the  questions  that  arise 
as  man  to  man  in  this  age  in  which  we  live.  We  recog- 
nize your  conservatism,  your  love  of  the  past,  while  you 
have  also  the  open  mind  for  the  future.  And  as  we 
look  back  over  a  century  of  your  theology  I  think  we 
are  inclined  to  hope  a  little  more  than  was  indicated  by 


136  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

a  very  distinguished  theologian  who  spoke  from  this 
pulpit  last  night.  We  recognize  all  this  ;  and  more  than 
this,  we  look  to  3^ou  as  our  brothers  and  allies  in  the 
great  battle  that  is  coming  on  and  must  come  on  with 
greater  strength  as  the  years  roll  by — the  great  battle 
for  God  and  for  humanity,  for  true  righteousness  of 
civic  institutions  and  in  private  life,  for  the  Christian 
religion  and  for  the  Christian  ideals.  I  tell  you,  my 
brothers,  the  battle  for  Christianity  will  be  hard,  and 
those  who  love  Jesus  Christ  must  stand  together  in  that 
great  battle — the  battle  against  unbelief,  against  un- 
clean living,  against  unholy  divorce,  against  that  pagan 
luxury  which  is  sweeping  like  the  destroying  one  over 
our  land  to-day,  threatening  the  high  ideal  of  home  and 
family.  I  say  in  all  these  struggles  which  are  before 
us,  in  all  these  battles  against  intemperance,  against 
impurity,  against  bestial  profanity,  we  look  to  the  Pres- 
byterian communion  as  a  splendid  aggregation  of  forces, 
and  we  rejoice  to  know  that  what  we  are  trying  to  do  in 
our  way  you  will  also  help  us  to  do  in  your  splendid 
way.  We  thank  God  that,  as  we  look  into  the  future, 
we  can  believe  that  this  great  battle  of  which  I  speak 
will  be  fought,  not  by  one  branch,  but  by  all  the  united 
iDranches  of  Protestant  faith  and  Protestant  truth.  The 
battle  for  the  purit}^  of  the  home,  the  battle  against 
intemperance,  injustice,  unholiness,  the  battle  against 
the  manifold  evils  of  a  licentious  divorce  law,  is  some- 
thing we  must  stand  together  for  and  unite  our  forces 
for  the  glory  of  God. 

Therefore,  as  I  stand  here  to-night,  and  bring  you 
the  greetings  of  my  brethren  of  the  Episcopal  Church, 
I  say  again  it  is  in  no  formal  or  conventional  manner, 
but  with  a  sense  of  the  power  you  represent,  and  of  the 
fact  that  we  lean  upon  you  as  our  brothers  and  our 
allies  in  the  work  which  God  has  given  us  to  do  in  this 
land. 


John  R.  Paxton,  D.  D. 


the  centennial  exercises.  137 

The  Pastor  : 

We  will  now  have  the  greetings  of  our  Methodist 
Churches,  which  will  be  delivered  by  Rev.  Lucien 
Clark,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Clark  : 

To  the  pastor  and  members  of  this  church  I  bring 
the  cordial  greetings  of  the  ministers  and  churches  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  this  city.  We 
congratulate  you  on  the  splendid  success  of  this 
centennial  celebration.  We  congratulate  you  on  a 
century  of  history  and  of  magnificent  achievements. 
Who  can  estimate  the  value  of  this  church,  located 
in  the  center  of  this  great  city,  to  the  country  and  to 
the  world  !  From  this  center  of  truth  and  light  rays 
have  gone  forth  to  all  the  world  ! 

A  century  of  preaching,  a  century  of  prayer,  a  cen- 
tury of  sacred  song,  a  century  of  benevolence,  a  cen- 
tury of  holy  living  by  the  members  of  this  church  whose 
names  have  been  and  are  now  upon  its  rolls,  mean 
more  than  we  can  think.  One  hundred  years  is  a  long 
time  for  a  man  to  live,  but  it  is  not  a  long  time  for  a 
church  to  live.  This  church  is  not  in  its  infancy, 
neither  is  it  in  the  decline  of  its  life.  We  may  expect 
that  it  will  live  a  thousand  years,  and  that  its  future 
will  be  far  greater  than  the  past,  and  that  in  the  cen- 
turies to  come  the  seeds  of  truth  will  continue  to  be 
sown  here  that  shall  go  forth  into  all  the  world  and 
their  fruits  shall  shake  like  Lebanon  ! 

One  hundred  years  ago  a  Methodist  preacher  would 
not  have  been  expected  to  bring  the  congratulations  of 
his  denomination  to  a  Presbyterian  congregation.  The 
denomination  that  I  represent  was  at  that  time  just 
nineteen  years  old,  but  it  had  a  foothold  in  this  city, 


138  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

and  its  representatives  were  men  who  made  their 
mark  and  left  their  impression  upon  the  city.  And  if 
a  Methodist  preacher  had  come  to  a  Presbyterian 
Church  at  that  time  with  his  congratulations  we  are  not 
sure  that  he  would  have  been  received  with  overwhelm- 
ing satisfaction,  because  at  that  time  the  denominational 
lines  were  denominational  barriers  ;  aye,  and  strong. 
Your  people  believed  in  the  Westminster  Confession  of 
Faith  without  any  modern  improvements.  Our  people  did 
not.  They  believed  that  that  confession  of  faith  con- 
tained much  deadly  heresy,  and  they  trained  their  artil- 
lery' against  it  and  fought  it  for  fifty  years.  I  suppose 
that  Dr.  Radcliffe  and  I  now  could  sit  down  and  pre- 
pare a  confession  of  faith  to  which  three  fourths  of  the 
members  of  both  denominations  would  cordially  sub- 
scribe. One  hundred  3'ears  ago  your  ecclesiastical 
ancestors  sang  Rouse's  Version  of  the  Psalms.  I  tried 
very  hard  yesterday  to  find  a  copy  of  that  book  and  I 
could  not  find  one  within  the  city  except  in  the  Sunday- 
school  room  of  this  church  and  that  was  guarded  by 
a  young  man.  If  I  could  have  found  it  I  should  have 
recited  to  you  some  stanzas  from  that  remarkable  book 
for  our  edification.  You  were  singing  Rouse's  Version 
of  the  Psalms.  We  sang,  "  Shout,  shout,  we're  gain- 
ing ground,  Halle-,  halle-lujah  !"     Now  we  all  sing — 

"  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 
Our  hearts  in  Christian  love." 

The  Pastor  : 

I  was  looking  over  an  account  the  other  day  of  the 
laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  this  building,  and  one  who 
took  a  prominent  part  in  those  services  is  here  to-night 
with  greetings.  I  am  glad  to  present  to  you,  as  one 
bearing  the  greetings  of  the  Lutheran  Churches,  Rev. 
J.  G.  Butler,  D.  D. 


the  centennial  exercises.  139 

Dr.  Butler  : 

In  bringing  the  greetings  of  the  Lutheran  Church, 
my  thought  has  been  fixed  upon  the  object  lesson  here 
to-night,  this  illustration  of  the  wondrous  Christian  unity 
into  which  we  have  grown  during  these  one  hundred 
years.  Not  only  Martin  Luther,  and  John  Calvin,  and 
V/ycliffe,  and  Wesley,  but  all  shades  of  evangelical 
faith  are  represented  here  to-night,  and  we  can  sing 
heartily  *'  Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds."  We  have  grown 
into  that  maxim,  "  In  essentials  unity,  in  non-essentials 
liberty,  and  in  all  things  charity."  And  we  get  into 
the  spirit  of  that.  I  do  not  think  we  will  get  beyond 
that,  but  we  can  agree  upon  the  essentials ;  we  can 
agree,  we  are  agreeing  I  trust,  in  charity  toward  all 
men,  especially  toward  all  that  are  of  the  household  of 
faith. 

I  am  not  quite  a  hundred  years  old.  Dr.  Radcliffe, 
and  yet  I  have  a  pleasant  remembrance  of  all  the  pas- 
tors of  this  church  celebrating  its  centennial  to-night. 
When  I  came  to  this  city  in  1849,  a  young  pastor  with  a 
very  small  salary,  the  church  burdened  with  debt,  one  of 
the  first  men  I  met  was  Dr.  Laurie,  pastor  of  the  old  F 
Street  Church,  and  he  had  the  gracious  condescension 
to  invite  the  boy  that  I  was  to  preach  in  that  church.  I 
also  knew  Dr.  Junkin,  the  sainted  Dr.  Gurley  (one  of 
the  grandest  men  that  ever  lived  in  the  city  of  Wash 
ington).  Dr.  Mitchell,  Dr.  Paxton,  Dr.  Bartlett,  and 
now  my  eloquent  brother  who  is  the  pastor  of  this 
church.  Dr.  Radcliffe.  I  rejoice  that  this  church,  dur- 
ing all  these  hundred  years,  has  stood  a  witness  for 
Christ  and  the  Gospel ;  for  the  word  of  God  ;  for  the  day 
of  God,  now  being  so  greatly  secularized  ;  for  the  house 
of  God,  deserted  by  such  multitudes;  for  the  family  as 
God  appointed  it,  as  against  unscriptural  divorce  and 
polygamy  that  debauches  the  homes  ;  for  soberness,  as 


140  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

against  the  saloon  ;  for  justice  between  labor  and  capi- 
tal ;  for  the  love  of  our  neighbor,  of  whatever  race  he 
may  be.  A  church  that  has  stood  for  one  hundred 
years  bearing  this  testimony  deserves  not  only  to  live 
but  to  be  crowned  with  great  honor.  This  church,  as 
no  other  church  in  this  city,  has  come  into  contact  with 
the  life  of  the  nation,  not  only  as  it  exerted  its  influence 
upon  the  current  of  life  flowing  through  the  city,  then  a 
mere  village,  but  as  it  has  touched  the  lives  of  great 
men  ;  and  in  the  family  of  churches  always  sustaining 
a  fraternal,  catholic  relation.  I  remember  that  when  I 
came  to  this  city,  the  first  pastor  who  called  upon 
me  was  a  Presbyterian  pastor,  and  for  fifty  years  my 
relations  have  been  of  the  most  cordial  character  with 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  with  all  churches  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Christians  of  every  name.  And  this 
church  has  stood  for  all  these  years,  not  only  in  contact 
with  the  life  of  the  city,  but  with  the  great  national 
life.  It  has  reached  more  public  men  than  any  other 
church  ;  "  the  church  of  the  presidents,"  cabinet  officers, 
senators,  representatives,  judges  of  the  supreme  court; 
the  church  of  men  high  in  the  places  of  the  nation.  I 
present  a  concrete  illustration  indicating  the  influence 
of  this  church  and  the  growth  and  power  of  Christianity 
in  this  nation  (for  I  have  not  time  to  elaborate  this 
thought) :  One  hundred  years  ago,  when  Thomas  Jef- 
ferson was  counted  among  the  followers  of  Thomas 
Paine,  who  could  have  imagined  that  to-day  in  this  New 
York  Avenue  Church,  in  the  pew  once  occupied  by 
Abraham  Lincoln,  would  stand  the  President  of  the 
United  States  witnessing  for  Christ !  (I  wonder  if  he 
ought  not  to  have  been  a  preacher.)  I  am  very  sure 
that  he  is  a  very  good  president,  and  whom  we  ought 
all  to  highly  respect  for  his  Christian  character.  The 
New  York  Avenue  Church  has  had  so  much  to  do  in 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  141 

molding  the  life  of  this  great  nation  ;  and  whilst  we  are 
exposed  all  the  while  to  the  winds  of  doctrine,  I  feel 
that  this  church,  with  other  churches  in  this  city,  is 
standing  and  protesting  forever, — and  I  want  to  empha- 
size that  word  Protestant,  as  did  Dr.  McKim, — standing 
and  protesting  forever  for  everything  that  is  sound  and 
right  and  true;  I  feel  that  this  church,  with  our  other 
Christian  churches,  is  for  God,  for  God's  day,  for  God's 
house,  for  God's  word  ;  and  that  His  kingdom  will  con- 
tinue to  be  blessed  as  the  armies  of  the  Lord  march 
forward  to  certain  victory  !  Who  does  not  rejoice  to-day 
in  the  power  of  this  the  greatest  of  the  powers  among 
the  nations  of  the  world?  And  shall  we  not,  and  must 
we  not,  link  very  closely  with  the  power  of  this  national 
government  the  influences  of  the  churches  of  this  city, 
but  especially  the  influence  of  this  New  York  Avenue 
Church?  I  am  sure  we  all  rejoice  in  the  past  one  hun- 
dred years  of  your  history,  and  as  we  look  out  upon  the 
next  century,  what  can  we  wish  more.  Dr.  Radcliffe, 
than  a  repetition,  with  increasing  power  and  glory. 

We  are  sure  the  New  York  Avenue  Church  will  stand 
with  our  Protestant  churches  for  Christ  and  His  king- 
dom ;  Luther  and  Calvin  and  Wyclifi'e,  and  grand  old 
John  Knox — the  man  who  cried,  "  Give  me  Scotland  or 
I  die,"  and  of  whom  the  bloody  queen  said,  '*  I  fear 
the  prayers  of  John  Knox  more  than  all  the  armies  of 
Europe."  With  a  record  such  as  this,  supplemented 
by  John  Wesley,  what  may  we  not  expect,  as  we  sing 
in  our  hearts,  as  I  am  sure  we  do,  "  Onward,  Christian 
soldiers?" 

Ah  !  what  thoughts  crowd  in  our  memories,  as  we 
remember  the  hosts  that  have  gone  from  this  church  to 
the  better  land  and  to  their  reward  !  With  that  part  of 
the  host  that  3'^onder  waits,  we  will  stand  for  Christ  until 
the  Master  shall  say,  "  It  is  enough,  come  up  higher !  " 


142  the  centennial  exercises, 

The  Pastor : 

The  greetings  of  the  German  Reformed  Church 
will  now  be  delivered  by  Rev.  J.  M.  Schick,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Schick  : 

It  is  with  strong  feelings  of  pleasure  that  I  come, 
representing  one  of  the  least  of  the  tribes  of  Israel,  to 
congratulate  you  upon,  not  just  the  existence  of  one 
hundred  years,  but  upon  the  fact  that  God  has  deemed 
you  worthy  to  stand  during  these  one  hundred  years  for 
that  principle  that  you  have  never  ceased  to  love,  and 
for  that  truth  you  have  never  ceased  to  teach.  It  is  a 
great  thing  to  be  recognized  of  God  in  the  doing  of  a 
great  work.  I  want  to  congratulate  you  because  you 
stand  in  a  movement  that  stands  for  self-government 
and  self-control  ;  because  you  have  a  message  for  this 
nation,  coming  out  of  your  historic  life,  and  because  of 
the  bearing  of  that  message,  which  the  world  has  come 
to  recognize,  and  which  as  a  nation  we  are  more  and 
more  coming  to  emphasize.  I  congratulate  you  upon 
the  fact  that  the  whole  world  is  coming  to  recognize 
something  of  that  unity  of  the  Christian  Church.  We 
stand  with  3'OU,  and  there  never  was  a  time  when  the 
Church  of  Jesus  Christ  was  so  united  ;  but  we  are  com- 
ing to  recognize  it  more.  The  Protestant  Churches  in 
the  past  were  very  much  like  the  Irishman  who  was 
killing  a  snake,  and  the  snake  would  keep  twisting  and 
squirming  ;  and  some  one  coming  by,  said,  "  Why  don't 
you  kill  that  snake?"  The  Irishman  replied,  '*I  have 
killed  him,  but  it  is  very  hard  to  get  him  to  know  it." 
That  is  the  way  we  have  been  about  the  unity  of  the 
churches  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  never  was  a  time 
when  we  were  not  one.  And  I  am  not  so  sure  but  that 
we  are  to  be  congratulated  that  we  did  not  know  of  our 
unity.  Why,  if  our  fathers  had  not  fought,  we  could 
not  rejoice  to-night  over  the  fact  that  we  are  now  united. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  143 

or  over  the  unity  of  that  life  in  which  we  now  stand. 
We  are  growing  nearer  to  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and 
His  truth,  and  the  nearer  men  come  to  Jesus  Christ  the 
nearer  they  get  together ;  the  closer  we  come  to  him 
the  more  nearly  we  are  bound  to  touch  shoulder  to 
shoulder  and  heart  to  heart  in  doing  His  work.  For 
this  reason  I  am  glad,  though  representing  so  small  a 
body  and  so  new  a  congregation,  to  congratulate  you 
upon  the  great  work  of  the  century,  upon  the  high 
honor  God  has  given  you  in  keeping  you  in  this  place 
to  bear  his  name,  upon  the  success  he  has  given  your 
work,  and  the  joys  that  are  bound  to  increase  and  mul- 
tiply, and  the  influences  that  are  bound  to  come  forth  ; 
entering  upon  the  new  century  in  the  spirit  of  the  past 
development,  entering  the  new  with  consciousness  of 
the  ideals  that  are  to  be  attained,  with  confidence  in 
God  because  of  the  past,  without  fear  for  the  foe  that  is 
before  us  because  we  have  succeeded  in  the  past,  with- 
out a  fear  because  we  rely  upon  Him  who  has  guarded 
and  guided  aright  in  truth  and  righteousness,  because 
Christian  influence  to-day  in  our  national  life  is  greater 
than  at  any  other  time  in  our  history ;  and  although 
there  is  much  to  regret  and  much  more  to  be  done, 
although  there  is  a  long  journey  yet  to  be  traveled,  this 
is  true,  as  God  is  true.  His  word  shall  not  fail,  it  shall 
accomplish  that  which  He  pleases.  And  because  of 
this  trust  and  because  of  our  confidence  in  the  history 
that  is  behind  us,  we  go  forth  to  the  new  century  stronger 
and  in  firmer  assurance  that  His  word  will  prevail. 
And  come  what  will,  grow  in  wickedness  as  many 
nations  will,  this  is  true,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ 
undivided,  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  recognizing  the 
work  it  has  to  do,  cannot  fail  !  Because  we  are  in  this 
mind,  we  congratulate  you  and  recommend  jaiu  in  that 
name  of  Christ  to  go  forth  into  the  new  century,  trusting 
His  love  and  assured  of  His  power. 


144  the  centennial  exercises. 

The  Pastor  : 

There  are  two  Presbj^erian  denominations  in  Wash- 
ington, the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United 
States.  The  brethren  of  the  latter  in  Washington  send 
their  greetings  through  our  brother  beloved.  Rev.  A. 
W.  Pitzer,  D.  D. 

Dr.  Pitzer  : 

Dr.  Radcliffe  and  Christian  Friends: 

Will  you  please  allow  me  to  indulge  in  personal  allu- 
sions in  the  little  time  I  shall  take  to  talk  to-nicrht?  In 
this  very  church  some  thirty  years  ago  I  heard  a  blind 
man  sing,  "  One  more  day's  work  for  Jesus  ;  one  less  of 
life  for  me."  That  sentence  came  to  me  just  now.  One 
century  of  work  for  Jesus  ;  one  century  of  work  for  that 
Redeemer  who  loved  us  and  died  for  us,  and  looks  down 
with  tenderest  compassion  upon  us.  Last  week  a  very 
intelligent  Christian  woman,  very  familiar  with  this  city, 
said  to  me,  "  I  believe  the  New  York  Avenue  Church 
has  been  the  most  potent  force  for  righteousness  and 
Presbyterian  Christianity  in  Washington  city."  I  said, 
"  I  believe  what  you  say  is  true."  I  said  that  privately  ; 
I  wish  to  say  it  here  in  public. 

Other  men  labored  and  ye  have  entered  into  their 
labors.  Will  you  let  me  read  six  lines  from  a  sermon 
that  I  preached  twenty-three  years  ago,  and  you  will  see 
why  I  wish  to  read  it?  "Just  before  this  church  was 
organized,  the  Rev.  Dr.  P.  D.  Gurley,  who  was  for 
years  a  faithful  minister  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  this 
city,  building  up,  filling  and  crowding  the  New  York 
Avenue  Church,  holding  that  large  congregation  to- 
gether during  all  the  trials  and  scenes  of  the  Civil  War, 
turned  it  over   to  his  successor  the    largest    and    most 


William  A.  Bartlett,  D.  D. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  145 

important  congregation  in  Washington — this  represent- 
ative Presbyterian  minister  said  to  one  of  the  movers  in 
establishing  this  church  (and  I  will  call  her  name  here 
to-night)  :  '  You  have  done  right ;  this  is  a  good  move, 
and  I  am  glad  of  it.  Doubtless  it  will  save  to  Presby- 
terianism  many  who  have  gone  to  other  churches,  and 
I  wish  you  God-speed  in  building  up  your  gospel 
church.'"  Those  are  the  words  of  Dr.  Gurley,  to 
whose  untiring  labors  in  this  city  the  future  prosperity 
of  this  congregation  is  largely  due.  And  after  him 
came  the  aggressive,  resolute,  strong  S.  S.  Mitchell, 
and  after  him  the  genial  and  brilliant  Bartlett.  And 
shall  I  say  that  he  who  comes  and  fills  the  place  now  is 
not  the  least  among  all  these  men?  So  far  as  I  know 
you  have  had  no  down-grade  theology  in  this  church. 
Not  that  I  suppose  the  Confession  of  Faith  is  infallible, 
or  that  the  men  who  drew  it  could  not  err,  but  there  is 
such  a  thing  as  down-grade  theology,  and  a  departure 
from  the  written  word  of  the  living  God  ;  and  there  has 
been  no  uncertain  sound  from  this  pulpit. 

Dr.  Radcliffe,  did  you  know  that  this  church  gave 
us  Gen.  John  M.  McCallum?  You  gave  us  the  stated 
clerk  of  our  session  for  many  years,  Mr.  J.  B.  A. 
Shields,  and  he  served  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. Mr.  Alexander  R.  Shepard,  with  his  large  heart 
and  spontaneous  liberality,  gave  me  a  check  for  five 
hundred  dollars  one  time  to  help  in  building  the  Central 
Presbyterian  Church. 

Dr.  Radcliffe  didn't  know  the  difference  between  the 
two  churches.  [Dr.  Radcliffe  :  Neither  do  you.]  No,  I 
don't  know  the  difference  either.  When  I  was  trying 
to  establish  fraternity  between  the  two  assemblies,  in  the 
good  providence  of  God,  the  pastor  of  this  church  and 
I  arranged  that  I  should  supply  the  two  churches  for  an 
entire   summer,  and   so  we   alternated  back  and  forth. 


146  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

I  have  had  so  many  friends  in  this  church,  I  have  felt 
so  much  at  home  here,  that  it  is  almost  like  congratu- 
lating m3-self  to-night. 

Why,  Dr.  Radcliffe,  it  is  a  very  remarkable  thing 
that  you  can  gather  around  you  such  a  body  as  you 
have  here  to-night :  I  do  not  know  when  or  where  it 
could  have  been  done  before. 

I  want  to  go  back  a  moment  to  Dr.  Radcliffe's  intro- 
duction, *'  The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United 
States."  The  Presbyterian  Church  i7i  the  United 
States,  not  of  the  United  States.  Now,  I  wish  to  say 
that  I  am  on  record  and  have  been  for  twenty-three 
years  that  I  am  in  favor  of  uniting  all  Presbyterian 
bodies  in  this  country,  and  I  would  take  in  all  the  dif- 
ferent Presbyterians,  even  the  Cumberland  Presbyte- 
rians, on  this  basis,  the  concensus  of  the  creeds  held 
by  these  different  bodies.  There  is  enough  in  them 
common  to  all,  and  it  will  build  a  platform  broad 
enough  and  strong  enough,  not  only  to  hold  all  the 
Presbyterians,  but  we  will  take  in  these  Congregation- 
alists,  and  the  Methodists,  and  the  Baptists,  and  the 
Episcopalians  (I  think  Vv-e  would  leave  Dr.  Butler  out). 
(Laughter). 

Now,  we  have  had  a  real  good  time.  I  have  just 
got  started  and  now  it  is  time  to  quit. 

The  Pastor  : 

Our  Congregational  brethren  send  their  greetings  by 
Rev.  S.  M.  Newman,  D.  D. 

Dr.   Newman: 

Dr.  Radcliffe,    Brothers    of  the    Nexu    York  Avenue 
Churchy  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

It  is  a  very  gracious  thing  that  the  Master  of  men, 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  permits  us  in  our  capacity  to 
stand  here  and  congratulate  each  other.     Every  iota  of 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  147 

truth  we  have  held,  every  glimpse  of  far-reaching  use- 
fulness we  have  cherished  like  a  vision — all  these  have 
been  given  by  the  spirit  of  the  Master.  It  is  very  gra- 
cious of  Him,  I  say,  to  permit  us,  to  encourage  us,  to 
come  here  and  congratulate  each  other.  I  most  heartily 
concur  in  all  that  has  been  said  about  the  history,  the 
place  and  usefulness  of  this  church.  I  put  before  you 
the  congratulations  of  the  Congregational  Churches  in 
this  respect :  We  are  still  sailing  in  the  "  Mayflower," 
and  we  want  to  know  that  you  still  hold  fast  the  tradi- 
tions of  life.  In  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  I 
tried  just  as  hard  as  I  could  to  get  away  from  my 
brother.  Dr.  McKim.  But  I  rejoice  to-night  to  be  on  the 
platform  with  him.  It  is  the  coming  of  the  Spirit  of 
God  ;  it  is  the  testimony  of  the  power  of  God.  He 
speaks  through  the  gracious  words  of  Dr.  McKim.  He 
speaks  through  the  mouth  of  Dr.  Pitzer,  the  word  of 
unity,  and  declares  that,  however  much  we  may  differ 
in  the  little  variations  of  ritual  of  prayer  and  song,  the 
Master  bows  at  the  altar  and  receives  undivided  our 
gracious  prostrations  of  spirit. 

We  wish  to  have  a  voice  in  such  a  congratulatory 
service  as  this,  and  so  I  came  at  the  behest  of  my 
brethren  ;  and  I  say,  God  bless  you.  The  best  of  all  is 
not  that  you  have  a  hundred  years  of  life  behind  you, 
but  that  you  have  the  expanse  of  glory,  the  breadth  of 
coming  centuries  before  you.  You  have  the  prospects, 
the  undimmed  expectations,  the  glory  of  life.  You  have 
been  so  true  to  Christ  in  the  past,  that  he  is  going  to  ask 
great  things  of  you  in  the  future.  May  God,  by  His 
spirit  of  power,  enable  you  to  be  true  to  the  convictions, 
the  opportunities,  the  open  doors,  the  larger  service, 
the  unbounded  contact  with  the  whole  world,  which  we 
all  to-day  have,  and  the  founders  of  this  church  did  not 
have  !  May   God,  by  His   spirit  of  power,  help  you  to 


148  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

walk  in  the  path  of  increasing  service  and  duty  to  Him, 
and  may  the  spirituality  of  all  heavenly  benedictions 
rest  upon  you  evermore  I 

The  Pastor  : 

When  I  was  a  young  pastor  in  Pennsylvania,  I  re- 
member seeing  in  a  newspaper  a  prayer  which  so  much 
impressed  me  that  I  cut  it  out  and  put  it  into  my  manual 
of  forms,  where  it  has  often  been  to  me  a  help  and  an 
inspiration — an  exceptionally  beautiful  and  impressive 
prayer,  throughout — and  I  was  glad,  in  coming  to 
Washington  to  meet  the  one  who  compiled  that  prayer. 
It  was  offered  at  the  funeral  of  President  Garfield,  and 
its  author  is  here  to-night  to  extend  to  us  the  congratu- 
lations of  the  Christian  Church,  Rev.  F.  D.  Powers, 
D.  D. 

Dr.  Powers  ; 

I  count  it  a  special  privilege  to  bring  to  you.  Dr. 
Radcliffe,  and  to  the  people  of  this  historic  church,  the 
Christian  salutations  of  the  people  whom  I  represent.  It 
is  no  small  honor  that  God  has  granted  to  you  to  be  set 
as  a  city  upon  a  hill,  in  the  midst  of  this  capital,  and  of 
this  nation,  for  a  full  rounded  century.  And  this  church 
has  borne  its  testimony  through  all  these  years.  It  seems 
hardly  possible  that  when  it  began  its  work,  in  the  city 
of  New  York  there  were  but  sixty  thousand  people,  and 
Philadelphia  had  but  forty  thousand,  and  Boston  twen- 
ty-four thousand,  and  Washington  was  only  a  few  little 
groups  of  huts.  It  was  the  year  after  Thomas  Paine's 
"  Age  of  Reason  "  was  published,  and  people  were  feel- 
ing that  men  were  swinging  awa}'  from  the  old  faith, 
and  that  even  the  President  of  the  United  States  had 
taken  up  with  the  current  unbelief  of  the  times.     This 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  149 

church  began  then  to  bear  witness,  and  for  one  hundred 
years  has  borne  it  faithfully.  John  Ruskin  found  in  the 
city  of  Venice  on  the  foundation  of  the  old  church  of 
St.  Giacomo  di  Rialto,  an  inscription  which  read : 
**  This  wa}''  to  the  old  temple.  Let  the  merchants'  laws 
be  just,  his  works  true,  his  covenants  faithful."  It  is  a 
brief  and  beautiful  epitome  of  those  influences  that 
should  go  out  from  any  sanctuary.  Every  church,  in 
some  measure,  bears  this  witness ;  but  here  at  the  capi- 
tal of  the  nation,  at  the  center  of  the  nation's  life,  in  a 
peculiarly  far-reaching,  effective  way  this  influence  is 
outpoured.  As  you  have  succeeded  in  proving  your- 
selves worthy  of  the  high  calling  wherewith  you  were 
called,  all  of  your  sister  churches  have  shared  the  honor 
with  you,  where  one  member  suffers  all  the  members 
suffer  with  it.  In  the  twenty-eight  years  of  my  pasto- 
rate in  this  city,  I  have  counted  among  my  personal 
friends  the  pastors  of  this  church  and  many  of  its  mem- 
bers, and  your  sister  congregations  have  felt  an  inspira- 
tion as  they  realized  that  they  were  workers  together 
with  you  in  the  service  for  our  city  and  for  the  common 
Christianity  we  all  hold  inexpressibly  precious. 

And  what  is  it  that  has  made  you  in  this  century  ;  that 
has  kept  the  gracious  women  and  noble  men  and  sweet 
children  that  have  been  your  crown  and  your  joy  ;  that  has 
uplifted  the  mission  of  life  and  honor  and  leadership  all 
over  the  country,  that  have  found  here  help  and  strength 
and  encouragement?  What  is  it  that  shall  keep  you  in 
the  century  that  you  now  enter?  It  is,  brother,  the 
grace  of  God.  The  Hebrew  said  to  the  Christian  in  the 
market  place,  "What  is  it  that  makes  your  faces 
shine?"  "  I  do  not  know,"  was  the  reply.  "  I  see 
your  Christians  everywhere  and  their  faces  shine  ;  what 
do  you  do  to  make  them  shine?"  And  the  other,  un- 
derstanding, answered.  "  The  grace  of  God."    And  the 


150  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

best  wish  I  could  bear  to  Dr.  Radcliffe  and  to  the  mem- 
bers of  this  church  is  that  this  grace  of  God  shall  abide 
with  him  and  with  them. 

May  I  tell  a  story,  sir?  The  presence  of  my  friend, 
Justice  Harlan,  reminds  me  of  it.  It  is  a  story  drawn 
from  the  history  of  my  own  church.  Judge  Jeremiah 
Black,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  wife  were  devoted 
members  of  my  communion.  The  judge  was  a  member 
of  President  Buchanan's  cabinet.  My  people  met  in  a 
little  hall  over  an  engine  house  not  far  away.  Judge 
Black  had  a  driver  named  Peter,  and  one  day  he  said 
to  Mrs.  Black:  "  Mrs.  Black,  I  want  to  ax  you  some- 
thing, and  yet  I  don't  like  to  ax  it,  madam."  "  What 
is  it,  Peter?"  "  Are  you  always  going  to  attend  church 
at  that  engine  house  down  there?"  "  Until  we  get  a 
better  place,  Peter,"  replied  Mrs.  Black.  "  Well," 
said  Peter,  "you  know  the  drivers  of  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  cabinet  laugh  at  me  a  good  deal  about  stand- 
ing before  that  engine  house  with  my  carriage.  Will 
you  let  me  drive  back,  after  leaving  you  at  the  engine 
house  on  Sundays,  and  stand  with  my  carriage  before 
that  Presbyterian  church  ?"  "  Yes,  Peter,"  said  Mrs. 
Black,  "  provided  you  will  always  come  back  in  time 
to  take  the  judge  and  me  home." 

We  do  not  envy  you.  Dr.  Radclifle,  the  glories  of 
the  work  you  have  accomplished.  We  pray  that  the 
fulness  of  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  of  peace  may  be 
upon  you  in  this  new  century  upon  which  you  so 
auspiciously  enter. 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  : 

Dr.  Radcliffe,  will  you  allow  me  a  word  before  these 
exercises  are  concluded?  In  order  that  I  may  not  be 
embarrassed  as  to  what  is  to  be  proposed,  I  ask  that 
Rev.  Dr.  McKim  take  the  chair. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  151 

This  series  of  meetings  have  been  a  source  of  great 
joy  to  the  members  of  this  church.  But  to  me,  and 
doubtless  to  others,  the  present  has  been  the  crowning 
meeting  of  this  Centennial  season.  I  do  not  remember 
that  upon  any  occasion  in  my  life  I  have  ever  seen 
such  an  assemblage  as  there  is  in  our  pulpit  to-day  ; 
ministers  of  nearly  all  of  the  Christian  denominations, 
recognizing  the  fact  that  they  are  brethren  engaged  in 
a  common  work.  You,  gentlemen  of  the  ministry,  have 
brought  the  greetings  of  your  people  to  this  church 
to-night,  and  they  are  very  grateful  to  all  of  us.  But 
there  are  greetings  of  another  sort  that  ought  to  be 
expressed  here  to-night.  Now,  without  consulting  with 
any  human  being  as  to  what  I  am  to  say  (I  have  n't 
even  consulted  my  wife  who  sits  at  my  side  ;  I  am  exer- 
cising the  privilege  that  a  man  ought  now  and  then  to 
exercise  upon  his  own  responsibility),  I  wish  to  say  to 
3'ou  gentlemen  of  the  ministry  that  nothing  said  by  you 
in  commendation  of  our  pastor  is  too  strong.  He  has 
gone  in  and  out  before  this  people  for  many  years,  and 
I  am  sure  has  never  had  any  thought  except  to  do  his 
whole  duty  to  this  people.  During  his  ministry  here  he 
has  been  absent  from  his  post  only  a  few  days,  and  then 
only  because  of  sickness.  While  he  has  at  all  times 
discharged  his  full  duty  to  this  people,  we  perhaps  have 
not  done  our  duty  towards  him.  But  I  do  not  wish  all 
the  praise  bestowed  upon  him.  He  enjoys  that  greatest 
blessing  that  any  minister  can  have,  a  wife  who  takes  a 
deep  interest  in  his  work  and  stands  back  of  him  at  all 
times  to  encourage  him. 

Now,  Mr.  Chairman,  Dr.  McKim,  I  move  that  this 
assembl}'',  and  you  gentlemen  of  the  ministry  joining 
with  us,  extend  by  a  rising  vote  to  Dr.  Radcliffe  and 
his  good  wife  a  vote  of  hearty  congratulation  and 
thanks. 


152  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Dr.  McKiM  :  Is  that  motion  seconded? 

Dr.  Pitzer  :  I  second  it  most  heartily. 

Dr.  McKim  :  Those  in  favor  of  this  motion  will  rise. 
(The  entire  audience  and  the  ministers  on  the  pulpit 
rise.) 

The  Pastor  : 

This  was  not  on  the  programme  and  I  like  to  go  right 
through  a  programme  without  a  hitch.  I  certainly  ap- 
preciate very  much  the  words  and  their  spirit  as  they 
have  just  come  to  me.  I  have  done  my  work  here 
because  I  have  been  so  ably  seconded,  because  I 
have  had  with  me  so  constantly  the  confidence 
and  enthusiasm  and  co-operation  of  this  people.  You 
have  been  a  good  people  to  serve.  It  has  been  an 
honor  to  be  the  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  to  you  ;  and  I 
am  glad  in  this  presence  to  say  that  never  was  that  rela- 
tion so  pleasant,  and  never  in  our  work  and  in  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  church  were  there  such  harmony  and 
mutual  confidence  and  co-operation  as  to-day.  The  sun 
shines  brightly  ;  we  have  delightful  fellowship  one  with 
the  other,  and  all  the  experiences  of  these  last  few  days 
but  cement  the  friendship  and  give  us  confidence  and 
great  promise  for  the  days  that  are  to  come. 

I  wish  to  thank  you,  brethren,  for  your  presence  and 
your  words  here  to-night.  We  have  had  a  good  many 
beautiful  things  illustrated  here.  You  have  shown  us  a 
splendid  refutation  of  the  common  slander  upon  the  min- 
istry. We  have  a  reputation  for  prolixity  sometimes,  and 
yet  I  want  this  congregation  to  witness  what  splendid 
speeches  in  miniature  have  come  to  us.  You  could  not 
gather  any  other  body  of  men  together  who  would  do  as 
the  brethren  of  the  ministry  have  done  to-night.  You  get 
a  lot  of  politicians  together,  and  to  accomplish  what  we 
have  done  this  evening  they  would  have  stayed  until 


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THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  153 

midnight.  And  yet  they  have  not  only  given  us  their 
congratulations,  but  they  have  put  into  terse  sentences 
and  strong  expression  good,  earnest,  and  kind  thought; 
we  heartily  congratulate  you.  But  more  than  all  we 
have  been  very  much  touched  with  your  presence  and 
your  words.  We  rejoice  with  vou  in  the  communion  of 
the  saints  as  it  is  here  presented.  We  are  one  in  Jesus 
Christ.  We  all  love  Him  and  His  church — not  His 
churches — but  His  church — the  one  body  of  Christ.  And 
thanking  you  for  your  presence,  we  send  with  you  our 
prayer  for  God's  presence  with  you  in  your  work  and 
for  His  abiding  benediction  upon  your  words  and  lives. 

The  four  hundred  and  twenty-fifth  hymn  was  then 
sung  : 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love : 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 

Is  like  to  that  above. 

Before  our  Father's  throne 

We  pour  our  ardent  prayers ; 
Our  fears,  our  hopes,  our   aims,  are  one. 

Our  comforts  and  our  cares. 

From  sorrow,  toil,  and  pain. 

And  sin,  we  shall  be  free ; 
And  perfect  love  and  friendship  reign 

Through  all    eternity. 

The  benediction  was  pronounced  by  Rev.  J.  Russell 
Verbrycke,  pastor  of  the  Gurley  Memorial  Presbyterian 
Church,  Washington,  D.  C. 


154  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

At  the  close  of  the  service  in  the  church  a  reception 
was  held  in  the  lecture-room,  which  had  been  very 
gracefully  decorated  for  the  occasion.  The  receiving 
party  consisted  of  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Wallace  Rad- 
cliffe,  Rev.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  W.  A.  Bartlett,  Justice  and 
Mrs.  J.  M.  Harlan,  Gen.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Breckinridge, 
Mrs.  R.  A.  Alger,  Mrs.  A.  P.  Gorman,  Mrs.  J.  C. 
Burroughs,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Gurley,  Mrs.  J.  D.  M'Ches- 
ney,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Cranford,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Richardson, 
Mrs.  C.  B.  Pearson,  Mrs.  C.  A.  Baker,  Mrs.  C.  B. 
Bailey,  Mrs.  Brice  J.  Moses,  Mrs.  Henry  Wells,  Mrs. 
W.  P.  Van  Wickle,  Mrs.  J.  Ormond  Wilson,  Mrs. 
George  C.  Gorham,  Mrs.  R.  I.  Fleming,  and  Mrs.  R. 
P.  A.  Denham.  Music  was  furnished  by  Haley's 
orchestra.  Refreshments  were  served.  The  reception 
was  thronged,  and  continued  till  a  late  hour. 


The  Centennial  Historical  Exhibit 

OF  THE 

NEW    YORK    AVENUE    PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

November  i^-i8,  1903. 


1.  Map  of  Washington,  1800,  J.  O.  Adams 
Picture  of  Washington  as  Dr.  Laurie y^rj-/  saw  it,    J.  O.  Adams 

2.  Copy  of  the  Washington  Directory,  1822,  showing  Dr.  Laurie's 

residence  at  that  time,  Mrs.  G.  J.  Musser 

3.  Picture  of  Rev.  James  Laurie,  D.  D.,  first  pastor  of  F  Street 

Church  ( 1 803-1 853),  with  his  autograph. 

Miss  Lizzie  Deebie 

4.  Text-books  used  by  Dr.  Laurie  at  the  University  of  Edinburgh 

(three  in  all,  one  over  four  hundred  years  old), 

Mrs.  A.  McB.  Mosher 

5 .  Miniature  of  Dr.  Laurie,  and  lock  of  his  hair, 

Mrs.  A.  McB.  Mosher 

6.  Silhouettes  of  Dr.  Laurie's  second  wife  and  her  daughter, 

Mrs.  A.  McB.  Mosher 

7.  Original  communion  cup  used  in  the  F  Street  Church,  1803, 

Mrs.  A.  McB.  Mosher 

8.  Plan  of  the  F  Street  Church  ;   names  of  pew-holders  at  time  of 

union,  Joseph  A.  Deebie 

9.  Sofa  of  the  F  Street  Church,  made  by  Thompson  Bros., 

New  York  Avenue  Church 
[0.     Miniatures  of  Mr.    Michael  Nourse,   Mr.  Joseph   Nourse,  Mr. 
James  Nourse,  Miss  Emma  Nourse 

[  I .  Sermon  preached  at  funeral  of  Mr.  Michael  Nourse,  by  Rev. 
Courtlandt  Van  Rensselaer,  co-pastor  F  Street  Church. 
(Mr.  Nourse  was  an  original  elder  in  Dr.  Laurie's  Church, 
and  was  Register  of  the  Treasury  during  the  administration 
of  General  George  Washington.)  Miss  Emma  Nourse 


156  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

12.  Chair  which  belonged  to  Col.  Michael   Nourse,  elder  and  pre- 

centor— often  used  by  Dr.  Laurie  during  prayer-meetings  at 
the  house,  Mrs.  Mary  Hassler  Newcomb 

13.  Hymn-book  used  in  the  F  Street  Church,  1820, 

Mrs.  Annie  Cathcart 

14.  Infant  baptismal   certificate  of  Mrs.  Joseph  Deeble  and  Mrs. 

Joseph  Thompson,  by  Rev.  James  Laurie,  D.  D., 

Miss  Lizzie  Deeble 

1 5 .  Letter  of  Dr.  Laurie's,  acknowledging  gift  of  sixty  dollars  from 

ladies  of  F-Street  Church,  Miss  Lizzie  Deeble 

16.  Daguerreotype  of  Gen.  John  McCalla,  an  elder  in  the  F  Street 

Church;  born  1793,  died  1873,  Miss  Maria  McCalla 

17.  Picture  of  Rev.  Septimus  Tustin,  D.  D.,  stated  supply  F  Street 

Church,  1839-1845  (son-in-law  of  Rev.  S.  B.  Balch,  D.  D.), 

Miss  Mary  Tustin 

18.  Book  written  by  Rev.  Septimus  Tustin,  D.  D.,  "Alcyone," 

Miss  Jennie  Tustin 

19.  Picture  of  Rev.  Ninian  Bannatyne,  co-pastor  F  Street  Church, 

1 845-1 848 — copy  of  a  miniature  painted  in  Washington  in 
1844,  Mr.  Stanhope  Bannatyne 

20.  Badge  and  program  carried  by  Rev.    Ninian  Bannatyne  on  the 

day  of  his  graduation,  Mr.  Stanhope  Bannatyne 

2 1 .  Note  enclosing  check  for  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  sent  to 

Rev.  Ninian  Banantyne  the  day  he  died,  by  John  Lenox,  of 
New  York  city,  Mr.  Stanhope  Bannatyne 

22.  Paper  containing  an  article  on  the  death  of  Rev.  N.   Banna- 

tyne, co-pastor  F  Street    Church,  by  Rev.    James    Laurie, 
D.  D.,  Mr.  Stanhope  Bannatyne 

23.  Picture  of  Mrs.  Amelia  A.  Bannatyne,  wife  of  Rev.  N.  Banna- 

tyne, who    died    in    1897,  surviving  her  husband  fifty-one 
years,  Mr.  Stanhope  Bannatyne 

24.  Picture  of  Rev.    Courtlandt    Van    Rensselaer,    stated    supply 

F  Street  Church,  copy  of  painting  made  from  a  daguerreotype 
forty-two  years  after  death.  Rev.  E.  B.  Hodge,  D.  D. 

25.  Picture  of  Rev.  D.  X.  Junkin,  co-pastor  F  Street  Church,  1850- 

1854,  and  one  of  his  books,  Mrs.  B.  M.  Junkin 

26.  Hymn-book  used  in  F  Street   Church.     Hymns    marked  that 

were  used  at   Dr.   Laurie's  funeral,  and   written  program  of 
the  services,  J.  B.  Larner 

27.  Picture  of  monument  of  Dr.  and   Mrs.    Laurie,  Congressional 

cemetery,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  157 

28.  Picture  of  grave  of  co-pastor  of  F  Street  Church — Glenwood. 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

29.  Picture  of  Daniel  Ratcliflfe,  elder  in  F-Street  Church, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

30.  Badge  worn  on  anniversary  of  the  Sunday-school  of  the  F  Street 

Church  during  the  administration  of  President  Pierce, 

Mrs.  G.  J.  Musser 

31.  Plan  of  the  old    Second  Presbyterian   Church,  made  by  Mr. 

David  McClelland,  one  of  the  trustees, 

Mr.  Frank  McClelland 

32.  Specifications  regarding  the  building  of  the  Second  Church, 

Miss  Nannie  McClelland 

33.  Portrait  of  Rev.  Stephen  B.  Balch,  D.  D.,  founder  of  the  Sec- 

ond Church,  painted  by  Peale,  1780,        Miss  Julia  R.  Balch 

34.  Picture  of  Dr.  Balch,  S.  W.  Curriden 

35.  Picture  of  Rev.  Daniel   Baker,  D.  D.,  first  pastor  of  Second 

Church,  1822-1828,  when  forty  years  of  age ;  original  por- 
trait on  panel  in  oil  at  Marysville,  Tenn., 

Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Baker 

36.  Picture  of  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D.,  fifty  years  of  age,  from  a 

miniature  on  ivory,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Baker 

2)"] .     Picture  of  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D.,  from  an  old  daguerreotype 

taken  in  Texas  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,   Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Baker 

38.  Book — "Life  and  Labours  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  D.  D.," 

Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Baker 

39.  Portrait  of  Dr.  Thomas  B.  Balch,  acting  pastor  of  the  Second 

Church,  Miss  Julia  R.  Balch 

40.  Picture  of  old  Bridge  Street  Church,  Georgetown,  D.  C, 

Miss  Julia  R.  Balch 

41.  Picture  of  Dr.  S.  B.  Balch,  copy  of  a  steel  engraving  formerly 

owned   by  his    daughter,  a  former  member  of  the  Second 
Church,  Miss  Cordelia  Jackson 

42.  Picture  of  grandnephew  of  Gen.   George   Washington,  Mr.  G. 

C.  Washington,  a  member  of  Dr.  S.  B.  Balch's  church. 

Miss  Cordelia  Jackson 

43.  Picture  of  residence  on  Analostan  of  Gen.  John  Mason,  where 

Dr.  S.  B.  Balch  was  frequently  entertained. 

Miss  Cordelia  Jackson 

44.  Picture  of  the  house  in  which  the  first  Presbyterian  services 

were  held  by  Dr.  S.  B.  Balch,  one  of  the  old  landmarks  in 
Georgetown  (still  standing,  1903),       Miss  Cordelia  Jackson 


158  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

45.  Picture  of  the  Scotch    Row  in  Georgetown,  occupied  in  early 

days  by  members  of  Ur.  S.  1].  Balch's  congregation, 

Miss  Cordelia  Jackson 

46.  Picture  of  a  daughter  of  Dr.  S.  B.  Balch,  from  a  miniature  in 

possession  of  her  daughter,  IMiss  Cordelia  Jackson 

47.  Picture  of  the  house  where   Dr.   Balch  died,  33d   and  North 

streets,  Georgetown. 

48.  Communion  service  used  in  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church, 

loaned  to  the  church  by  Mr.  Lewis  Clephane, 

Walter  C.  Clephane 

49.  Paper  regarding  the  loan  of  President  John  Quincy  Adams  to 

the  Second  Church,  Miss  Nannie  McClelland 

50.  Picture  of   Mr.  David  McClelland,  librarian    of  the    Sunday- 

school  of  the  Second  Church. 

51.  Portrait  of  Mrs.    Eliza  M.  Gurley,  a   member  of  the   Second 

Church.  This  portrait  was  painted  on  the  portico  at  Arling- 
ton, by  a  Mr.  Williams,  who  afterwards  entered  the  Confed- 
erate army,  and  later  was  hung  as  a  spy, 

Constance  E.  Adams 

52.  Picture  of  Benjamin  Butler,  attorney-general  during  the  admin- 

istration of  Martin  Van  Buren,  attendant  at  the  Second 
Church,  Mr.  Levin  Handy 

53.  Engraving  of  Rev.  Dr.  Campbell,  pastor  of  Second  Church, 

Mrs.  William  Strong,  Albany,  N.  Y. 

54.  Photograph  of  Dr.  Campbell,  pastor  of  Second  Church, 

Rev.  W.  F.  Whitaker,  D.  D. 

55.  Picture  of  Mrs.  Eaton  (Peggy  O'Neal),  from  a  miniature  taken 

in)'Outh,  about  the  time  she  attended  the  Second  Church, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

56.  Picture  of  Mrs.  Eaton  (Peggy  O'Neal),  from  a  photograph  by 

Brady,  aged  80,  J.  O.  Adams 

57.  Picture  of  Rev.  J.  R.  Eckard,  last  pastor  of  the  Second  Church, 

Rev.  Leighton  W.  Eckard 

58.  Picture  of  Mrs.  J.  R.  Eckard,  Rev.  Leighton  W.  Eckard 

59.  Picture  of  Mrs.  John  Ouincy  Adams,  J.  O.  Adams- 

60.  Table   which  belonged   to  John   Ouincy  Adams,  presented   by 

his  widow  to  a  member  of  the  Second  Church.  In  the  cor- 
ner of  one  of  the  drawers  is  the  autograph  of  "  J.  O.  Adams,' 
which  he  wrote  there,  in  ink,  about  1842,  J.  O.  Adams 

61.  Picture  of  Rev.  John  Breckinridge,  D.  D.,  who  frequently  sup- 

plied the  pulpit  of  Second  Church,   Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  159 

62.     Pictures  of  the  presidents  who  attended  the  two  churches: 

John  Quincy  Adams,  Andrew  Jackson, 

Martin  Van  Buren,  William  Henry  Harrison, 

Millard  Fillmore,  Franklin  Pierce, 

James  Buchanan,  Abraham  Lincoln, 

Andrew  Johnson, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 
6^.     Picture    of  Dr.  Gurley  when    at    Princeton,    a   student    in    the 
Theological  Seminary,  age  21  years.     From  a  miniature  in 
the  family  of  his  granddaughter, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

64.  Dr.  Gurley's  flute,  used  by  him  when  a  member  of  Seminary 

Choir  at  Princeton,  1838,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

65.  Portrait  of  Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  pastor  of  F  Street  Church, 

and  first  pastor  of  United    Church,  1 854-1 868,  painted   by 
Miss  Lillie  Sullivan,  a  member  of  this  congregation, 

Frances  Gurley  Adams 

66.  Photograph  of  Dr.  Gurley,  New  York  Avenue  Church 

67.  Portrait  of  Mrs.  P.  D.  Gurley,  painted  1830, 

Constance  E.  Adams 

68.  Communion  service  used  by  Dr.  Gurley  in  F  Street  Church, 

New  York  Avenue  Church 

69.  Psalms  and  Hymns,  1843,  Miss  M.  T.  Brady 

70.  Picture  of  Mr.  William  Rutherford,  who  gave  the  corner-stone 

of  this  church,  Mrs.  Matilda  Rutherford 

71.  Picture  of  Mr.  James  Skirving,  who  gave   the   copper-plate  in 

corner-stone  of  this  church,  and  engraved  thereon  the  names 
of  the  members  at  the  time  of  the  union,       Samuel  Skirving 

72.  Picture  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Church, 

Constance  E.  Adams 
y^.     Picture  of  the  New  York  Avenue  Churcli,      Mrs.  G.  J.  Musser 

74.  New    ^ork  Avenue  Church    (each  of  the    above    having    the 

steeple). 

75.  Pulpit  furniture  used  at   the  dedication   of  this   church,  i860 

(sofa  and  two  chairs).  Miss  M.  T.  Brady 

76.  Bible  presented  to  the  church  by  Mr.  William  Ballantyne,  in 

i860,  at  the  dedication.  New  York  Avenue  Church 

77.  Hymn-book  used  the  first  six  months  after  the  union, 

Mrs.  G.  J.  Musser 


160  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

78.  Picture  of  Mr.  Charles  Stott,  elder  at  the  time  of  the   union  in 

the  F  Street  Church,  for  years  a  member  of  this  church, 

Mrs.  Lillian  Stott  Woodard 

79.  Picture  of  Mr.  William  L.  Waller,  elder  in  this  church  and  in 

F  Street  Church,  Rev.  William  Waller 

80.  Picture  of  Mr.  J.  V.  A.  Shields,  elder  in  F.  Street  Church, 

Mrs.  J.  V.  A.  Shields 

81 .  Picture  of  Mr.  George  J.  Musser,  deacon,    1 863-1 875,  treasurer 

1866-18 — ,  and  trustee,  Mrs.  G.  J.  Musser 

82.  Sermon  case  used  by  Dr.  Gurley  while  pastor  of  this  Church, 

Frances  Gurley  Adams 

83.  One  of  Dr.  Gurley's  sermons,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

84.  Dr.  Gurley-s  note-books,  used  in  connection  with    his  church 

work,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

85.  "  Hymns  from  the  Land  of  Luther,"  a  gift  to  Dr.  Gurley  from 

Miss  Mary  Coyle,  a  member  of  this  Church, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

86.  A  preparatory  lecture,  by  Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley,  D.  D., 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 
Sy .     Book  presented  by  Dr.  Gurley  to  his  mother-in-law.     Inscrip- 
tion by  Dr.  Gurley,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 
88.     Letters  written  by  Dr.  Gurley  while   pastor  of  this  Church,  to 
his  niece,  Mrs.  Matilda  Gillert 
8g.     Two  pictures  of  Mrs.  Harriet  Lane  Johnson,  J.  O.  Adams 

90.  Picture  of  Abraham  Lincoln.     The  first  time   this   picture  was 

ever  exhibited,  Mr.  L.  C.  Handy 

91.  Two  pictures  of  Mrs.  Abraham  Lincoln,  J.  O.  Adams 

92.  Razor  used  by  President  Lincoln,  A.  McKericher 

93.  John  Brown's  spear,  used   during  the   raid  at  Harper's  Ferry, 

presented  to  President  Lincoln  while  a  member  of  this  con- 
gregation, A.  McKericher 

94.  Picture  of  President  Lincoln,  with  Mrs.  Lincoln's  autograph, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

95.  Lincoln  souvenirs  : 
Invitations. 
Programmes. 

Hymn  sung  at  funeral  of  President  Lincoln,  at  Springfield. 
Funeral  address  composed  by  his  pastor,  Rev.  P.  D.  Gurley, 

D.  D. 
Picture  of  chair  in  which  Mr.  Lincoln  sat  when  informed  of  his 

nomination. 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  161 

Picture  of  hat  worn  by  President  Lincoln  at  his  second  inaugu- 
ration, and  presented  at  his  death  to  Dr.  Gurley,  his  pastor. 

Piece  of  the  overcoat  Mr.  Lincoln  wore  the  night  he  was  shot. 

Pictures  of  the  Lincoln  family,  given  Dr.  Gurley  by  Mrs.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

Flowers  given  Mrs.  Gurley  by  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Picture  of  ink-well  President  Lincoln  used  in  signing  the  Eman- 
cipation Proclamation. 

Programmes  carried  by  Dr.  Gurley  at  the  funeral  of  President 
Lincoln. 

Copy  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  marriage  license. 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

96.  Canes  presented  to  Dr.  Gurley  by  Abraham  Lincoln, 

Charles  L.  Gurley  and 
Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

97.  Picture — Lincoln's  death-bed — Dr.  Gurley  on  the  right,  at  the 

head  of  the  bed,  J.  O.  Adams 

98.  Address  delivered  by  the  side  of  President   Lincoln's   cofBn  in 

East  Room  of  the  White  House,  by  his  pastor,  Dr.  Gurley, 

J.  O.  Adams 

99.  Sermon  on   the   death  of  Mr.  Lincoln — "  The  Voice    of  the 

Rod  " — preached  by  Dr.  Gurley,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

100.  Picture  of  parsonage  during  the  pastorate  of  Dr.  Gurley, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

10 1 .  Hymn  sung  by  children  of  Sunday-school  of  New  York  Avenue 

Church  on  New  Year's  Day,  1865,  at  home  of  pastor, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

102.  Order  of  exercises  at  Anniversary  of  Washington  City  Sunday- 

school  Union,  May  18,  1863,  at  10  A.  M., 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

103.  Programme  at  laying  of  corner-stone  of  the  new  building  of  the 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  November  27,  1867, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

104.  Articles  of  Reunion  used  by  Dr.  Gurley  at  the  General  Assem- 

bly, of  which  he  was  moderator,  in  1867, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

105.  Last  sermon  preached  in  this  church  by  Dr.  Gurley,  Februar}- 

18,1868,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

106.  Letter  of  B.  F.  Winslow,  written  to  Dr.  Gurley  the  day  after  his 

last  sermon,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 


162  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

107.     Dr.  Gurley's  hymn-l)ook  at  the  time  of  his  death, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 
[08.     Address  of  Dr.  Gurley  at  funeral  of  Col.  Isaac  K.  Casey, 

Miss  M.  T.  Brady 
log.     Order  of  exercises  of  Canal  Mission  Sunday-school, 

Miss  Pancoast 
ro.     Last  words  of  Dr.  Gurley. 

1 1 .  Resolutions  adopted   by  tlie  Church    Boards  on  the  death   of 

Dr.  Gurley,  Miss  Pancoast 

12.  Poem  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Gurley,  Constance  E.  Adams 

13.  Two    pictures    of  monument   erected    by  New    York    Avenue 

Church  to  memory  of  Dr.  Gurley,  in  Glenwood, 

Constance  E.  Adams 

14.  Flowers  from  a  large  wreath  sent  by  President   Andrew  John- 

son for  the  casket  of  Dr.  Gurley,  Constance  E.  Adams 

15.  Bust  of   Rev.   P.  D.  Gurley.  D.  D.,  by    Clark  Mills's    second 

cousin,  Frances  Gurley  Adams 

16.  Paper   prepared    and   read    at    twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  the 

Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  of  this  Church,    by  Mrs. 
P.  D.  Gurley,  Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

17.  Treasurer's    Book,     Branch     Sewing    Society    of    New    York 

Avenue  Church,  1869-1903,  Mrs.  Edward  Tarring 

18.  Picture  of  Gurley  Mission  Chapel,  1877, 

Frances  Gurley  Adams 

19.  Picture  of  Rev.  S.  S.  Mitchell,  D.  D.,  pastor  1869-1878, 

New  York  Avenue  Church 
120.      Hymn-book  used  during  Dr.  Mitchell's  pastorate. 
!2i.     Picture  of  Rev.  John  R.  Paxton,  D.  D.,  pastor  1S78-1882. 
[22.     Picture  of  Mrs.  John  R.  Paxton. 

123.  Picture  of  Rev.  W.  A.  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  pastor  1 882-1 894, 

New  York  Avenue  Church 

124.  Hymn-book  used  during  the  time  of  Dr.  Bartlett. 

125.  Pulpit  used  formerly  in  the  main  room  of  this  church. 

126.  Picture  of  Judge  Claughton,  elder  in  this  church. 

Miss  Lillian  Claughton  Johnson 

[27.     Another  picture  of  Judge  Claughton,  Mrs.  Merritt 

[28.     Picture    of  W.  A.  Wheeler,    Vice-President   of   the    United 

States,  attendant  of  this  church,  C.  R.  Fay,  Malone,  N.  Y. 
129.     Picture  of  Joseph    Willard,  trustee    of  this   church  for  many 

years,  Joseph  E.  Willard 


THE    CENTENNIAI.    EXERCISES.  163^ 

130.  Picture  of  Noble  D.  Larner,  for  many  years  trustee  and  treas- 

urer of  this  church,  J.  B.  Larner 

131.  Picture  of  Alexander  Shepherd,  who    gave    the   organ    to   the 

church,  J.  O.Adams 

132.  Two  pictures  of  Rev.  Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  pastor 

of  the  New  York  Avenue  Church. 

133.  Letter    from    the    only  surviving  child    of  President  Abraham 

Lincoln,  in  connection  with  the  Centennial  celebration  of 
this  church,  in  which  he  refers  to  the  affection  which  his 
father  and  mother  entertained  for  Dr.  Gurley, 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurley  Adams 

134.  Letter   from   Rev.  J.  L.  Vallandingham,    D.    D.,  now    in  his 

ninety-second  year,  for  a  while  stated  supply  of  F  Street 
Church,  now  living  (1903)  in  Newark,  Del., 

Mrs.  Emma  Gurlev  Adams 


CENTENNIAL  SUCCESSION  OF  OFFICERS. 


PASTORS. 


F  Street  Church. 


James  Laurie,  D.  D.,  1803-1853 

Septimus  Tustin,  D.  D.,  co-pastor,  1839-1845 

Rev.  Ninian  Banantyne,  co-pastor,  1 845-1 848 

Rev.  Levi  H.  Christian,  co-pastor,  1850  

David  X.  Junkin,  D.  D.,  co-pastor,  1850-1854 

Phineas  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  1854-1859 

Second  Church. 

Rev.  Daniel  Baker,  1821-1828 

Rev.  John  N.  Campbell,  1 828-1 830 

Rev.  E.  D.  Smith,  1830-1835 

Rev.  P.  H.  Fowler,  stated  supply,  1836  

Rev.  George  Wood,  1836-1840 

Rev.  Courtland  Van  Renssalaer,  stated  supply,  1 840-1 844 

Rev.  James  R.  Eckard,  1849-1858 

Rev.  J.  G.  Hamner,  D.  D.,  stated  supply,  1858-1859 

New  York  Avenue  Church. 

Phineas  D.  Gurley,  D.  D.,  1 859-1 868 

Samuel  S.  Mitchell,  D.  D.,  1869-1878 

John  R.  Paxton,  D.  D.,  1879-1882 

William  A.  Bartlett,  D.  D.,  1 882-1 894 

Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  1895  

Bethany  and  Faith  Mission  Chapels. 

Rev.  Ward  Bachelor,  1 882-1 885 

Rev.  Robert  H.  Fleming,  1886-1890 

Rev.  G.  A.  C.  Woodruff.  1891-1894 

Rev.  Edward  Warren,  1 894-1904 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  165 

BENCH    OF  ELDERS. 


F  Street  Church. 

Date  of  Induction 

James  Nourse, 

1803 

John  McGowan, 

1803 

Alexander  McDonald, 

1803 

William  Mackey, 

1821 

David  Munroe, 

1840 

William  Buist, 

1840 

Archibald  Thompson, 

1840 

Frederick  A.  TschefFaley, 

1845 

Arscene  Gerault, 

1845 

Charles  Stott, 

1848 

William  J.  Waller, 

1850 

JohnM.  M'Calla, 

1850 

Edward  Myers, 

1852 

J.  M.  Wilson, 

1854 

Lewis  A.  Edwards, 

1854 

S.  S.  Baxter, 

1854 

John  Van  Santwood, 

1858 

James  V.  A.  Shields, 

1858 

Second  Church. 

John  Craven, 

1821 

Joseph  Brumley, 

1821 

Stephen  Collins, 

1824 

Ezekiel  Young, 

1824 

James  H.  Handy, 

1824 

George  Gillies, 

1828 

Alexander  M'Donald, 

1831 

Joseph  M.  Hand, 

1831 

G.  M.  Phillips, 

B.  F.  Lamed, 

1852 

Henry  R.  Schoolcraft, 

1852 

Charles  Sumner, 

1852 

John  W.  Easely, 

1852 

L.  H.  Machin, 

1854 

John  M'Kinney, 

1854 

P.  A.  Tscheffaley, 

1856 

J.  S.  Clements, 

1856 

J.  P.Tustin, 

1856 

W.  L.  Cleaves, 

1856 

16G  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

New   York  Avenue  Churcli. 

Michael  Nourse,  1859 

Sidney  S.  Baxter,  1859 

John  M.  M'Calla,  1859 

Charles  Stott,  1859 

William  J.  Waller,  1859 

John  Van  Santwood,  1859 

James  V.  A.  Shields,  1859 

James  P.  Tustin,  1859 

John  M'Kinney,  1859 

Frederick  A.  Tscheffaley,  1859 

Joseph  S.  Hubbard,  1861 

J.  A.  Deeble,  1861 

William  Ballantyne,  1871 

Charles  B.  Bailey,  1871 

William  Strong,  1872 

Joseph  Henry,  1874 

A.  R,  Quaippe,  1874 

Joseph  Casey,  1874 

C.  B.Jewell,  18&0 

N.  A.  Robbins,  1883 

John  Randolph,  1884 

Henry  H.  Wells,  1884 

Sardis  L.  Crissey,  1884 

Calvin  B.  Walker,  1885 

John  W.  Foster,  1885 

Samuel  F.  Phillips,  1885 

H.  C.  Claughton,  1886 

J.  R.  Van  Mater,  18S8 

William  B.   Gurley,  1889 

William  B.  Robison,  1894 

C.  E.  Mott,  189s 

Andrew  Bradley,  1897 

A.J.  Halford,  1897 

W.  D.  Hughes,  1899 

Thomas  Beck,  1900 

John  M.  Harlan,  1900 

Joseph  C.  Breckinridge.  igoo 

C.  H.  Fishbaugh,  1900 

Harrison  L.  Bruce,  1900 


i 

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THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  1(>7 

Charles  A.  Baker,  1900 

Thomas  H.  Herndon,  1901 

John  W.  Dawson,  1903 

THE  DIACONATE. 
F  Street  CJntrch. 


J.  H.  Hamilton, 

1853-1863 

B.  F.  Rittenhouse, 

1853 

J.  A.  Deeble, 

1853-1863 

William  Ballantyne, 

1853-1856 

Mr.  Isaac  Wailes, 

1853-1854 

J.  S.  McKie, 

1853-1854 

A.  G.  Ridgley, 

1853-1856 

W.  W.  Miller, 

1854-1857 

G.  W.  Morris, 

1854-1857 

John  Van  Santwood, 

1856 

J.  V.  A.  Shields, 

1856-1859 

D.  Radcliffe, 

1856 

James  Hutchinson, 

1856-1863 

George  Lowry, 

1856 

Gary  Gynne, 

1863-1869 

William  M.  Lean, 

1856 

Joseph  Nairn, 

1856 

H.  Walbridge, 

1856 

Second  CJiurch. 

The  work  of  the  diaconate  was  assumed  by  the  bench  of  elders. 

New   York  Avenue  Church. 

W.  H.  Hoffman,  1863 

J.  B.  Munroe,  1859-1866 

George  J.  Musser,  1863-1875 

C.  M.  Parks,  1 866-1 870 

J.  D.  McChesney,  1866  

Jacob  W.  Ker,  1 866-1883 

A.  C.  Bradley,  1873-1875 

Mark  Brodhead,  1 873-1 885 

R.  P.  A.  Denham,  1873  

O.  M.  Muncaster,  1 873-1 S75 


168  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

C.  H.  Meriom, 
J.  R.  Imbrie, 
B.  H.  Warner, 
J.  L.  H.  Winfield. 
Charles  S.  Bradley, 
J.  R.  Van  Mater, 
W.  B.  Gurley, 
F.  O.  Beckett, 
Russell  B.  Taylor, 
Charles  E.  Foster, 
P.  F.  Lamer, 
W.  B.  Robinson, 
Ralph  Baldwin, 

E.  X.  Brugess, 
James  A.  Freer, 

B.  C.  Somerville, 
W.  C.  Clephane, 
A.  J.  Halford, 

C.  G.  Stott, 
Albert  Carhart, 
C.  F.  Nesbit, 
Brice  J.  Moses, 
J.  H.  Wurdeman, 
Henry  Wells, 

BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 

F  Street  Church. 

J.  P.  Chapman,  1822 

William  Buist,  1841 

Samuel  Stott,  1841 

F.  A.  Tscheffaley,  1841 
Trueman  Cross,  1842 
James  Eveleth,  1842 
George  Lowry,  1842 
P.  McMoreland,  1842 
John  D.  Barclay,  1843 
Benjamin  F.  Rittenhouse,  1843 
Joseph  Thompson,  1845 
William  D.  Brackinridge,  1845 


1874- 

.ISS9 

1874- 

-1897 

1874- 

.1885 

1874- 

-1880 

1875 

1875- 

-1888 

1882- 

-1889 

1883 

1885- 

-1888 

1886 

1900 

1882 

1888- 

■1894 

1888- 

-1889 

1888- 

1893 

1889 

1889 

I89I 

1904 

I89I 

1897 

1893 

1894- 

1897 

1898- 

I90I 

1900 

1904 

1900 

I90I 

THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  169 

Joseph  A.  Deeble,  1845 


A.  M.  Perault, 


T.  Purrington, 


Owen  Munson, 
Hugh  Pugh, 
Daniel  Ratcliffe 


18-45 


Henry  Barron,  13.5 

Charles  Stott,  2845 

James  H.  Hamilton,  1847 

William  Mechlin,  1847 

Isaac  H.  Wailes,  1847 

S.  K.  Handy,  1849 

William  McLean,  1850 


1850 


William  King,  >  i8rj 

James  S.  McKie,  1852 

A.  G.  Ridgely,  18^2 

Chester  Walbridge,  1852 

William  Ballantyne,  1853 

Joseph  W.  Nairn,  1854 

John  Van  Santvvood,  1855 


1856 
1856 
1856 


James  B.  Munroe,  iScg 
Second  Church. 

Henry  Forrest,  1820 

George  Gillis,  1820 

James  H.  Handy,  1820 

Edward  G.  Handy,  1820 

Benjamin  Homans,  1820 

James  Larned,  1820 

John  McCleland,  1820 

Joseph  McCorkle,  1820 

Josiah  Meigs,  1820 

Nicholas  B.  Van  Zandt,  1820 

Joseph  Brumley,  1821 
Jacob  Gideon, 
Joseph  W.  Hand, 


1821 
1822 


Joseph  Lovell,  1822 

John  Q.  Adams,  1823 

John  M.  Moore,  1823 

Samuel  L.  Southard,  1824 


170  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 

Samuel  W.  Handy,  1825 

Samuel  Stettinus,  1825 

Peter  Lenox,  1826 

Cornelius  McLean,  1826 

Henry  Ould,  1826 

Thomas  B.  Dashiel,  1827 

Joseph  Haskell,  1827 

Daniel  H.  Haskell,  1827 

Nathaniel  Towson,  1828 

Joseph  W.  Hand,  1828 

Isaac  H.  Wailes,  1828 

Robert  Mills,  1830 

Stephen  Collins,  1831 

Louis  M.  Goldsborough,  1831 

Alexander  McDonald,  1831 

Thomas  F.  Hunt,  1833 

Joseph  McClerg,  1833 

H.  R.  Gedney,  1835 

John  Wilson,  1835 

Charles  Dummer,  1837 

Estwich  Evans,  1837 

Thomas  Fillebrown,  1837 

New  York  Avenue  Church. 

William  L.  Hodge,  1S60 

Benjamin  F.  Havard,  i860 

David  A.  McClelland,  i860 

George  L  Musser,  1866 

Charles  B.  Bailey,  1869 

Silas  Casey,  1870 

James  E.  Fitch,  1870 

John  W.  Thompson,  1870 

Jourdan  W.  Maury,  1872 

H.  W.  Gait,  1872 

William  M.  Gait,  1882 

John  W.  Douglass,  1S86 

Noble  D.  Earner,  1886 

Lewis  Clephane,  1886 

B.  H.  Warner,  1886 

William  Thompson,  1886 


THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES.  171 

William  McKee  Dunn,  1887 

D.  O.  Wickham,  1887 

John  M.  Harlan,  1888 

Frederick  Pilling,  1888 

J.  Ormond  Wilson,  1888 

James  Wilkinson,  1889 

Alexander  T.  Britton,  1892 

T.  H.  Alexander,  1897 

Robert  I.  Fleming,  1897 

Edward  Graves,  1898 

Charles  B.  Pearson,  1899 

Charles  W.  Richardson,  1901 

Walter  Clephane,  1903 

S.  W.  Curriden,  1903 

John  B.  Larner,  1903 

Brice  J.  Moses,  1903 

W.  P.  Van  Wickle,  1903 

SUPERINTENDENTS  OF  SUNDAY  SCHOOLS. 


F  Street   Church. 

C.  Stott, 

1851 

W.  L.  Waller, 

1852 

William  Ballantyne, 

1854 

Dr.  Edwards, 

1856 

Dr.  0.  Munson, 

1857 

J.  V.  A.  Shields, 

1858 

Second    Church. 

No  records. 

Westminster  Church. 

John  R.  Wood, 

1853 

William  Ballantyne. 

Joseph  Herron. 

New  York  Avenue  Church. 

J.  V.  A.  Shields, 

i860 

Prof.  J.  S.  Hubbard, 

1863 

Samuel  Ker, 

1864 

C.  M.  Park, 

1866 

172  THE    CENTENNIAL    EXERCISES. 


C.  B.  Bailey, 

1871 

A.  H.  Bradley, 

1873 

C.  H.  Merwin, 

1875 

E.  M.  Stewart, 

1876 

A.  H.  Qiiaippe, 

1877 

S.  L.  Crissey, 

1880 

F.  S.  Williams, 

1881 

J.  R.  Van  Mater, 

1882 

N.  A.  Robbins, 

1893 

C.  A.  Baker, 

1896 

Metropolitan  Church. 

Joseph  Hutchison, 

1863 

North  Church. 

B.  F.  Winslovv, 

1864 

Rev.  Louis  R.  Fox, 

1866 

Gurley  Memorial  Church. 

Benjamin  F.  Winslow, 

1867 

Henry  C.  Studley, 

1869 

William  B.  Gurley, 

1870 

N.  A.  Robbins, 

1876 

C.  H.  Merwin, 

1887 

Bethany  Church. 

Thomas  R.  Cree, 

1873 

S.  L.  Crissey, 

1874 

Charles  S.  Bradley, 

1878 

S.  L.  Crissey, 

1881 

John  W.  Foster, 

1885 

N.  A.  Robbins, 

1887 

William  B.  Robinson, 

1891 

Edward  Tarring, 

1901 

Faith  Church. 

N.  A.  Robbins, 

1891 

Rev.  G.  A.  C.  Woodruff, 

1892 

Charles  S.  Bradley, 

1893 

A.  N,  Dewey, 

1901 

O  ne  Hundredth  Anniversary 
qf  The  New  York  Avenue 
Presbyterian  Church 
Washington,  D.  C,  Rev. 
Wallace  Radcliffe,  D.  D., 
LL«  D.,  Pastor 

Stind&.y,     Mond&.y,     Tuesday,     Wedtiesddwy 
NOVEMBER.      15     to      18/     IpoS 


THE  F  STREET  CHURCH 

WILLARD    HAI-L 


SOUVENIR       PROGRAM 


Celebration   of    the 
O  ne  rl  undredth    A  nniversa^ry 

OF  


The   New  York  Avenue 
Presbyterian     Church 

Washington,  D.  C. 


Rev. 
Wallace 
R&dcliffe 
D.D..   LL.D. 
P&.stor 


SUNDAY— II  A.    M. 

and  7.4=;   P-   M. 

MONDAY— 7-45P-M. 

TUESDAY— 

7.45    P.   M. 

WEDNESDAY— 

8  to   II   P.  M. 

November  15  to  18, 
1903. 


i803  -  1903 

ONE  HUNDRED  YEARS 
of  service  and  achievement. 
A  life  of  labor  in  the 
heart  of  the  National  Capital 
amid  the  stir  of  the  thrilling 
events  through  a  century 
forever  memorable.  A  record  of 
honorable  service  to  which  is  added 
the  grace  of  present  attainment 
and  strength  for  greater 
achievement.  Surely    this     is 

worthy  of  recognition  and  grati- 
tude and  summons  congratula- 
tion  and   just   pride. 

On  May  13,  1803,  the  F 
Street  Associate  Reformed  Church 
was  organized  and  REV.  JAMES 
LAURIE     was    chosen     Pastor. 


He  continued  in  that 
relation  until  his  death, 
a  period  of  fifty  years. 
The  first  meetings  were 
in  the  corridor  of  the 
old  Treasury  building, 
in  which  the  Pastor 
was  a  clerk.  Then 
they  occupied  a  small 
building-  on  the  corner 
of  F  and  Fourteenth 
Street,    on  the    site  now 


SUNDAY 

I  I    A.    M. 

•  The  Centennial  History  of 
New  York  Avenue  Presby- 
terian Church." 

The  Pastor 

7.45  P-  M. 
•AnEveningof  Reminiscences." 
W.  A.  Bartlett,  D.D., 
Walker  C.  Clephane,    Esq., 
Gen.   H.   V.   BoYNTON. 

The  music    will   be  of  the 
old  time  order. 


covered  by  the  r  e  c  e  n  1 1  v  c  o  m- 
pleted  extension  of  the  New 
Wiilard.  Later  the  substantial 
building  was  erected  immediately 
west  of  the  original  site,  which, 
after  the  removal  to  the  present 
building,  became  the  well-known 
Wiilard  Hall,  the  scene  of  many 
festive  and   historic  occasions. 

He  was  succeeded  for  a  brief 
pastorate  by  REV.  D.  X.  JUNKIN, 
who  afterwards  became  a  very 
conspicuous  and  influential 
ecclesiastic    and    educator. 

And  he  was  succeeded  by 
REV.  PHINEAS  D.  GURLEY, 
D.D.,  in  1853.  whose  pastorate 
marl<ed  a  distinctive  epoch  in 
the  history  of  this  church  and 
in   the     annals    of  the     Nation. 

The  Second  Presbyterian 
Church    was  organized   on    Octo- 


MONDAY 

7.45    ^-    M. 

The  President  of  the  United 
States  will  occupy  the  Lin- 
coln Pew. 

Justice  Harlan  ot  the  U.  S, 
Supreme  Court  will  preside. 

John  Bach  McMasters,  LL.D., 
of  the  University  of  Pennsyl- 
vania will  deliver  an  address 
upon  "The  American  of 
1803." 


ber  13,  (820,  in  re- 
sponse to  the  mission 
enterprise  of  REV. 
STEPHEN  B.  BALCHE. 
Its     first  pastor      was 

Rev.   Daniel    Baker, 

afterwards  known  to  the 
whole  country  for  his 
evangelistic  zeal  and 
success  and  his  sub- 
sequent work,  both 
ecclesiastical   and  educa- 


t   i   0   11   a 


Texas 


CAV.PBELL 

from  January,  1869, 
to  May,  1878;  REV. 
JOHN  R.  PAXTON,  D. 
D.,  from  June  1878,  to, 
February,  1882;  REV. 
W.  A.  BARTLETT,  D.D., 
from  April,  1882,  to  No- 
vember,  1894  ;  and    REV. 

Wallace    Radcliffe, 

D.D.,  LL.D.,  from 
May  26,  1895,  till  the 
present   time. 


This  Church  had  varying 
fortunes.  It  was  a  feeble  folk 
and  was  often  without  a  settled 
pastor.  It  frequently  worshipped 
even  during  Dr.  Laurie's  pastorate 
in  the  F  Street  building.  They 
succeeded  in  erecting  and  using 
a  small  building  upon  the  present 
site. 

But  all  saw  that  the  union  of 
the  two  churches  was  inevitable. 
On  October  14,  1859,  it  was  con- 
summated. The  present  n  a  m  e 
was  adopted  and  the  present 
church  building  erected.  REV. 
Dr.  GURLEY  remained  as  pastor 
of  the  United  Church  until  his 
death  in   1868. 

The  succession  of  pastors  has 
been  REV.  S.  S.  MITCHELL,  D.D., 


TUESDAY 

7.45    p.    M. 

Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary 
ot  the  Department  of  Agri- 
culture, will  pieside. 

Francis  L.  Patton,  D.D., 
LL.D.,  President  of  Prince- 
ton Theological  Seminary  will 
speak  upon  '•  A  Century  of 
Presbyterian  Doctrine." 


This  church  has  been  remark- 
able in  the  number  and  character 
of  its  adherents,  in  its  multiplied 
and  varied  channels  of  benevo- 
lence, and  in  its  impress  upon  the 
life  of  this  community  and  the 
nation. 

it  has  been  the  mother  of 
churches  and  even  in  instances 
where  the  churches  have  not  gone 
forth  as  colonies  such  owe  the 
largest  part  of  their  numbers  and 
station  to  the  communion-roll  and 
treasury   of   this  church. 

it  has  had  among  its  adher- 
ents a  multitude  of  distinguished 
names  in  every  department  ot 
national  station  and  influence. 
it  is  familiarly  called  "The 
Church  of  the  Presidents." 
Besides  those  who  occasionally 
attended,  it  has  had  as  its  regular 


WEDNESDAY 

8  to    g   p.    M., 
Greetings. 

9  to    II    p.    M., 

Reception. 

Music. 
Refreshments. 


adherents,  John  Quincy 
Adams.  Andrew  Jacl<- 
s  0  n  ,  Franklin  Pierce, 
James  Buchanan,  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  An- 
drew  Johnson. 

"Lincoln's  Pew"  has 
been  retained  amid  all 
the  changes  of  construc- 
tion, it  bears  a  silver 
plate, — "Abraham  Lin- 
coln   1861-1865  "    and    is 


BARTLETT 


RADCLIFFE 


the  week  and  almost 
every  hour  of  the  day 
not  only  for  conventions 
nd  union  meetings  but 
for  committees,  boards 
and  conferences  which 
most  frequently  have  no 
relation  to  the  church 
itself.  It  is  a  common 
meeting-place  for  the 
evangelical  Christians  of 
our  city. 


much  treasured  by  the  church 
and  eagerly  sought  out  by 
visitors   to  the  capital. 

This  church  has  been 
throughout  its  life  distinctively 
and  enthusiastically  Presbyterian, 
it  is  proud  of  the  name  and  of 
the  doctrine  and  history  that 
name  stands  for.  It  believes  the 
Bible,  accepts  the  Westminster 
Confession  of  Faith  and  is  loyal 
to  its  republican  Form  of  Gov- 
ernment. 

This  church  throughout  its 
life  has  been  as  distinctively 
catholic,  its  gifts  flow  far  beyond 
denominational  lines.  Its  building 
is  constantly  sought  and  cheer- 
fully given  for  the  innumerable 
succession  of  inter-denominational 
and  extra-denominational  meetings. 
Its  doors   are   open   every    day   in 


An  Historical  Exhibit  during 
Centennial  Week  will  be  given 
in  the  Lecture  Room. 

Much  material  of  great  interest 
is  already  in  hand — consisting 
ot  Portraits,  Hvmn  Books, 
Pictures  ot  our  former  Church 
Buildings,  our  Church's  First 
Communion  Service,  etc. 
To  Mrs.  J.  O.  Adams  the 
credit  for  the  gathering  of 
this  material  is  due. 


This  Church  is  noted  for  its 
hospitable  welcome,  its  large  con- 
gregations, its  missionary  and 
benevolent  activitv,  its  varied  and 
systematic  organization,  its  high 
order  of  sacred  music  and  hearti- 
ness of  congregational  singing. 
The  organ  which  leads  ihe  music 
was  the  gift  of  Governor 
ALEXANDER  R.  SHEPHERD  who 
was  a  member  of  this  church 
until   his   death. 


The  church  building  i  s  a 
familiar  landmark.  It  has  been 
the  scene  of  numberless  historic 
occasions  in  the  social,  ecclesias- 
tical and  political  experiences  of 
our  communitv.  Its  very  location 
indicates  the  wonderful  advance 
of  the  capital.  When  it  n\  as 
built  it  was  on  the  edge  of  popu- 
lation ;  to-day  it  is  in  the  noisy 
center  of  the  city's  life.  It  re- 
tains its  numbers  and  enterprise 
and  church  enthusiasm,   enrolling 

twelve  hundred    and    thirty-five  communicants   and    supports 
Bethany   and   Faith   Chapels. 


^^^' 


MCMASTERS 


ONE  HUNDREDTH  ANNIVERSARY  COMMITTEES 

RECEPTION 
Gffi.  Joseph    C.   Breckenriih.e,  Chairman 

lion.  R.  A.  Alfjer  H.m.  William  P.  Fiye  Hon.  H.  D.  MiricU 

Ur.  W.  U.  Boideii  Kev.  John  r>.  Frenen  I)r.  Z.  T.  Sowers 

Rev.  John  Chester,  D  D.   Col.  R.  I.  Fleming  Hon.  James  Wilson 

Dr.  J.  B.  G.  Curtis  Hon.  A.  1'.  Gorman  Mr.  W.  C.  Whittemore 

Hon.  John  B.  Cotton  Mr.  W.  B.  Gurley  Hon.  Lawrence  Weldon 

Dr.  Sardis  L.  Crissev  Hon.  .lohn  M.  Harlan  Hon.  J.  Ormond  Wilson 

Mr.  J.  H.  Cranford  "  Hon.  William  T.  Harris  Hon.  J.  W.  Yerkes 

Hon.  8.  B.  Elkins  Hon.  H.  S.  Irwin  Hon.  J.  C.  Burrows 

FINANCE 
John    B.  Larner,  Chairman 

Cliarles  S.  Bradlev  James  A.  Freer  Charles  W.  Richarilson 

Charles  A.  Baker"  Edwar.i  Graves  Charles  G.  Stott 

Walter  C.  Clephane  Albert  Halstead  George  W.  White 

S.  W.  Curriden  Brice  J.  Moses  Joseph  E.  Willard 

Cliarles  H.  Davidge  Charles  K    Pearson 

SOCIAL      FUNCTIONS 

John    D.  McChesnev,  Chairman  Henry  Wells,  Vice  Chairman 

Dr.  J.  Wesley  Bovee  J.  Porter  Lawrence  John  H.  Nolan 

Dr.  J.  Wythe  Cook  Lee  D.  Latimer  M    V.  Richards 

Percy  Cranford  Frank  Libbev  A.  H.  Snow 

Egbert  A.  Clark  Philip  F.  Larner  Charles  G.  Stott 

George  B.  Gardner  W.  K.  Mendenhall  Dr.  John  W.  Shaw 

Alexander  Grant  James  H.  McKenny  J.  H.  Spalding 

Charles  L.  Gurley  .Albert  McChesney  W.  R.  Speare 

Shields  Gurley    '  William  P.  Metcalf  George  W.  Trowbridge 

HISTORICAL      RESEARCH 
Mrs.  James  O.  Adams,  Chairman 
Walter  C.  Clephane  J.  H.  Doty  Miss  E.  M.  Mills 

A.  J.  Chipman  Hon.  John  Randolph         Mrs.  George  J.  Musser 

Joseph  A.  Deeblo  Mrs.  A.  G.  Draper  Miss  M.  E.  Paneoast 

R.  P.  A.  Denliam  Miss  Edwards  Mrs.  J.  T.  Young 

DECORATIONS 

J.    Henry    VVurdeman,  Chairman 

iMrs.  Charles  B.  Bailey       Mrs.  Edward  Graves  Mrs.  C.  W.  Richardson 

Mis.  J.  H.  Cranford     '        Mrs.  C.  B.  Pearson  Mrs.  G.  W.  Trowbridge 

THE      PRESS 

Gen.  Henky    V.   Boynton,  Chairman  Hugh    B.  Neshitt,    Vice  Chairman 

D.  N.  Biirbank  Wilson  N.  Paxton  Tlieoilore  F   Shuev 

Rev.  Thos.  Gordon,  D.  D.    Robert  A.  Pliillips  Dr    I ).  E.  Wiber 

Mr.  H.  G.  Johnson  Dr.  J.  J.  Pnrman  A.  (i.  Wilkinson 

C.  A.  Joerissen 

INVITATIONS 
Willi  A>r    P.  Van    W  ickle.  Chairman 

Charles  H.  Bailev  Charles  H.  Fishbaugh  C.  H.  Lincoln 

W.  Frank  Clark"  Prof.  W.  S.  narshman  Capt.  E.  H.  Parson.'* 

Charles  B.  Estabrook  Endicott  King  James  H.  Saville 

PRINTING 

Samuel    W.  Curriden,  Chairman 
J.  Edward  Bates  C.  M.  Delan  Charles  P.  Stone 

James  W.  Dawson  John  Mitchell  Edward  Tarring 

Dr.  W.  D.  Hughes  C.  H.  Sehaaf 

USHERS 
Charles   S.    Bradley,  Chairman 
Frank  O.  Beckett  Philip  D.  Larner  B.  C.  Soinerville 

Walter  C.  Clephane  Brice  .1.  Moses  Henrv  Wells 

R.  P.  A.  Denham  J.  D.  McChesnev  .1.  H.  Wurdeman 

James  A.  Freer  Charles  G.  Stott 


^^^l8?8ie58S?3538e000ei^'^^ 


CHOIR 

MRS.  SHIRCLIFF.  Soprano 

MISS  WHITAKER,  Contralto 

MR.  JOHN  H.  NOLAN    Bass 

MR.  M.  H.  STEVENS,  Tenor 
MR.  JOHN  PORTER  LAWRENCE,  Organist  and  Precentor 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Libraries 


1    1012  01217   5800 


DATE  DUE 


DEMCO  38-297 


